'Zakir was unbelievable'

It wasn't the most comprehensive win, but the entire Bangladesh Under-19 contingent was more than happy to have been able to overcome the obstacle placed by Nepal in the quarterfinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup yesterday. It therefore wasn't a surprise when Bangladesh skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz said that he was relieved following the match.

"I am feeling great. We are in the World Cup semifinal for the first time. That was our target at the start of the tournament. We had the belief and you saw that we responded well under pressure. We could do it because we had belief in ourselves," said Mehedi.

He admitted that the team was under pressure when they had lost four wickets within the first 30 overs and that was an aspect which was quite visible, especially when they were running between the wickets.

"The ground was slightly different. There were times when we didn't understand where the ball was. When we defended the ball at times, we couldn't tell whether it went into the gap or not.

"The ground is quite large too. But we have good understanding. Of course there may be one or two mistakes, but I don't think that is a major problem," he continued.

"We never played in front of such a large crowd but it was great. Everyone supported us and it inspired us. We were enjoying all of it," he added.

The skipper had special praise preserved for Zakir Hasan, who took the game away from Nepal with his composed 77-ball 75. Mehedi also credited Zakir for helping him calm down in the middle.

"He was unbelievable. He got back to scoring runs after a long time with this fine innings. It was great timing for the team since we really needed him today.

"There was some pressure when I was in the middle but Zakir told me that we would just play on singles, rotate the strike and not go for fours or sixes. His words worked quite well for us," he concluded.