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CRICKET-WC-MASH-PRE-MATCH
Complement Shakib to win against Sri Lanka: Mashrafe
DHAKA, June 10, 2019 (BSS)- Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza urged the players to complement Shakib Al Hasan’s effort as he looks to revive their World Cup hope by winning the match against Sri Lanka.
Shakib got the support from Mushfiqur Rahim and they were backed up well by the bowlers in the first match against South Africa which Bangladesh won to kick-start their World Cup mission with bang.
But that was not the case in the last two matches as Shakib lacked support from other ends and it caused Bangladesh’s against New Zealand and hosts England.
As they would take on Sri Lanka in their fourth match, Mashrafe said it is imperative to help an inform Shakib in a bid to make the thing right.
“He (Shakib) has been fantastic; honestly speaking he has been taking the loads all by alone,” Mashrafe said in the pre-match conference at Bristol on Monday.
“I hope others will come up as help for him so that we can revive our World Cup hope.”
Terming the match against Sri Lanka as ‘do or die’, Mashrafe said, everything will go in right direction if they can win the match.
“This is our ‘do or die’ match. We have to accompany Shakib in reaching our goal. If we can win this game, hopefully everything will be right.”
The captain said that they are not taking anything for granted against Sri Lanka as he believes both teams are placed in equal position in the ongoing World Cup.
While Bangladesh won their last ODI’s against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup but in total Sri Lanka are far ahead of them as they won 36 matches and lost seven games so far while Tigers failed to earn a single win against Sri Lanka in the global tournament despite facing them on three occasions.
Sri Lanka however began this World Cup in worst fashion, having lost to New Zealand by 10 wickets after being all out for 136 and then they narrowly escaped an Afghanistan juggernaut, beating them by 34 runs thanks to D/L method. That they lost nine wickets for 57 runs against Afghans exposed their batting vulnerability. Their last match against Pakistan was washed out due to consistent rain.
“I think there is no room for relaxation in World Cup. Every match is important. Our first three opponents were quite familiar with this condition, so we had good experience playing with them,” he said.
”I thought if we could win the next two games, it would be easier for us to qualify for the next round. But the fact is we could not give our best yet,” Mashrafe added.
”Now we will face an Asian side. Both teams will try their best to grab two points. So the one who will play better in the ground, they will have more chances to win,” he said.
Mashrafe urged his player not to get stuck by the defeat in the last two matches, terming those as bad two days in cricket.
“There is good and bad days in every game. I think we had two bad days in our last two matches. We could have better play against them. When we will play tomorrow we have to give full concentration in the ground. I hope luck will favor us tomorrow,” he concluded.
BSS/SMP/MMA/2035HRS