‘Best thing was that we didn’t panic’

There were screaming Bangladesh fans in Taunton, and with every boundary Shakib Al Hasan or Liton Das hit on way to chasing West Indies' 321 for eight was greeted with rising decibels. However, there were those of an older vintage who, even with less than 100 needed and the required rate just 4.7, was watching the game intently. They had been burned before and examples abound -- Bangalore 2016 against India, Mirpur 2009 against Sri Lanka, Mirpur 2012 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final and Colombo 2018 against India in the Nidahas Trophy final. Bangladesh have snatched many a loss from the jaws of victory before, and for witnesses in Taunton yesterday, the match was not won till it was won.

That feeling, it turned out, extended to the Bangladesh dressing room.

"No one in the dressing room felt it would be tough. Everyone was chilling. It gave a lot of confidence and belief. The way the openers [Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar] started the innings, it made the dressing room more comfortable. At no point did we panic; that was the best part of the chase," player-of-the-match Shakib Al Hasan, who scored an unbeaten 124 off 99 balls and, along with World Cup debutant Liton Das's unbeaten 94 off 69 balls, took the team home with 51 balls to spare.

"A lot of the credit should go to the coaching staff. We used to panic a lot in the dressing room, in the past, which was a big problem," Shakib continued. "Now the coaching staff is so calm that they don't allow us to panic. When we see them listening to the radio or just relaxing, we also see it that way. It is contagious, you know, panic. I think this mentality has helped our mindset while chasing big totals."

While Shakib will rightly attract the lion's share of the attention for putting in the performance when the team needed it most, Liton's innings was almost as crucial as he came in when Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim had departed in quick succession and there was still 189 runs to win. 

"I knew the wicket was good. I told him that if you stay at the wicket, we can finish the game with three wickets down," said Shakib when asked what he told Liton when he came in at 133 for three in the 19th over. "After the first 10-15 balls, it was a treat to watch. I enjoyed it from the other end. He never put me under pressure during the chase. It was his first World Cup match, coming into the team after four games is not an easy situation for a player. The way he handled the pressure was brilliant."

It was extra special from Liton because he usually opens the innings, as he did while scoring his only international century against India in the Asia Cup final last year. He had been out of the team since playing one match in the Ireland tri-series last month, when he scored a fifty. He also scored a fifty against India in the World Cup warm-up game on May 28. When his time came to grab the opportunity in an international match, he did so in emphatic fashion.

"I was quite nervous when I went in," Liton said after the match. "I had not been playing for a few matches. I also am not used to playing at number five. But I settled down after playing around 30 balls, and Shakib bhai also helped me a lot."

Having excellently negotiated and punished a barrage of bouncers against West Indies, Shakib was confident of facing Australia's pacers in their next match on June 20.

"We have been facing some of the best fast bowlers in the last four matches. Every team has at least two bowlers with 140kph. We have coped well against England and West Indies. We can overcome the pace challenge. We are a skilled team which can counter those challenges."

"The turning point was Mustafizur getting those two wickets. He (Shakib) has delivered for the team, every match he has come and done something which is really exceptional. Hopefully others will join him. Last two matches Mushfiqur batted well, today Liton batted brilliantly. Normally he bats at the top, it was a tough ask to bat at five but he coped with that and delivered."

MASHRAFE BIN MORTAZA

BANGLADESH CAPTAIN