Double delight for Mash

Bangladesh survived a scare before winning the second match against Zimbabwe by four runs to clinch the three-match ODI series with a game in hand at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday.   

And captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was delighted with the two major outcomes from the game, the first being the close win which he felt would bolster the team's confidence and the other being Tamim Iqbal's return to form with a big hundred.

"I think a win is a win but this was a close win. We held our nerves well. Winning is something we'll take to the next match. After this match, everybody will say 'but what about the bowling', but this was a very good wicket, and there was also some dew. It was difficult for the bowlers. When you win a tight game, it gives you a lot of confidence going forward," Mashrafe said at the post-match presentation.

About Tamim's record-breaking hundred, Mashrafe said: "I think he's always been our special player. The good thing is that he's happy after scoring runs. We know he has the ability to come back with such big knocks and this is nothing new. The others batted well around him, and that was good to see."

Tamim also said that he had belief in himself. "A lot of the credit goes to the team management because they always believed in me. I was batting well in the Test matches and in the nets, and I knew something big was coming. It was a bit up and down, but on the whole it was a really good batting wicket."

"Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim] was batting beautifully at the other end. The young ones, the way Liton [Das] batted well in the first match. [Nazmul Hossain] Shanto is also looking good. He's going to get a big one pretty soon. We are batting well, and it's good. At one point they had it but we pulled it back," he added.

It was a disappointing end for Zimbabwe after Donald Tiripano and Tinotenda Mutombodzi's big-hitting display almost took the visitors almost to victory, but captain Sean Williams believed that they could take lot of positives from the close defeat.

"Coming from the first game, and almost winning this game, we take a lot of positives. The young guys taking us close to winning this game is huge for us. Generally, Raaz [Sikandar Raza] plays a crucial role for us. Wesley Madhevere is an extremely good find for us. I wish Donald could have gotten us over the line. He's very disappointed right now, but he can hold his head high."