Bangladesh’s young players step up to seal a 3-0 sweep over Zimbabwe
But there were so many crucial contributions.
Then came Hasan.
Hasan displayed exactly the sort of batting Bangladesh have been waiting for from one of their younger players. He was calm. He trusted his game. His six boundaries were all perfect cricketing shots. No innovation necessary. He added 64 for the fifth wicket with Mohammad Mithun and 34 for the unbroken sixth wicket stand with Afif Hossain to help the team complete a 3-0 sweep.
Captain Iqbal was pleased with Hasan’s performance but made a point to add that his spot – and a couple of others in the middle order – is still up for grabs.
“I think everyone should get opportunities,” Iqbal said. “(Mohammad Mithun) didn’t do well in the last couple of matches but if you think back to New Zealand, he made a good contribution in the game we should have won. We don’t have the perfect player at No. 5 and 6 so we are giving them opportunities. Today Sohan’s [Nurul Hasan] innings was very good to see. There are two-three people who are fighting for one spot.”
Iqbal played a stroke-filled innings and reached his fastest ODI hundred, off 87 balls.
“I felt I was in good rhythm,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a challenging time. I felt I was batting quite well in both Tests and ODIs recently, but maybe I missed out on scoring big runs. I am happy to have contributed in this chase.”
“I don’t think we need to take that risk. I should be fine before the T20 World Cup if I take rest for eight to ten weeks during which I will do the rehab,” he said.
“I think we faced a number of situations when we got tested,” he said. “I think we passed those tests, which was satisfying. But there’s always room for improvement. We should take as much as possible from this series to the next ones. We have to keep improving.”
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84