Published on 09:11 PM, January 08, 2019

Tamim’s wicket the ‘most valuable’ for Mash

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in action today. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza caused a top-order collapse for Comilla Victorians with his spell, picking up the wickets of four top-order batsmen. He removed the likes of Evin Lewis and Steve Smith but it was his Bangladesh teammate Tamim Iqbal's wicket which held the most value for the Rangpur skipper.

"Among the four wickets, obviously Tamim's was important. Smith's wicket was important too," he said about the four wickets. Mash bagged Tamim early today, as the left hander felt the pressure to force the issue due to Mashrafe's immaculate length. Tamim's wicket is of special value to the pacer too.

"The thing with Tamim is that for a long time, he has been playing me well. In T20s, One-dayers or four-day matches. His strike-rate against me is also very good. So, from that point of view, his wicket was very positive for me.

"Getting his wicket upped my confidence," Mashrafe said about his four-wicket haul. "We know what Lewis and Smith can do but from my point of view, Tamim's was the most important," Mash said, showcasing the kind of competitive cricket that the mainstays of Bangladesh cricket have among themselves. It also gave an insight into the kind of cricket Tamim has been playing that Mashrafe put more value on his wicket than some of the other world-class batsman he scalped today. Mash's four saw Comilla bundle out for 63 after which Rangpur won by 9 wickets today.