[CRK]
Bangladesh Confident of Bouncing Back in Must-Win ODI Against New Zealand
Bangladesh lost the first ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand by 26 runs. If they then lose the second match too, they’ll lose the series with one game still to play. Thus, Bangladesh must win the 2nd ODI to keep alive their hopes of series victory.
Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam made it clear at a pre-match press conference that the team remained confident of bouncing back. They still have hope in winning the series.
Shoriful said, “Look, Mirpur wickets can sometimes surprise you. It didn’t behave exactly the way we expected. Hopefully, it will be a bit different in the next match. As for the batting failure, there’s no point in regret. When we lose, it hurts all of us – batters, bowlers, everyone. Maybe if we had bowled even better, it would have made things easier for the batters. We believe the batters will do better next game. They’ll support us, and we’ll support them. As a team, we’ll try to win together. In cricket, sometimes one unit performs while another doesn’t. That happens. But we are hopeful that we’ll do better in the next match, Insha’Allah.”
No Room for Complacency
Shoriful also dismissed the idea that New Zealand are a weakened side. For him, any international team deserves full respect. “In international cricket, there’s no such thing as a second-string team. An international side is always a strong side. They’ve come here after performing well in domestic cricket. We still have two matches in hand, and we have the ability to come back. If we can turn things around, Insha’Allah we can win the series. We made some mistakes in one match, but they are a good team and so are we. It’s a game of uncertainties, anything can happen.”
The second ODI between Bangladesh and New Zealand is set to be a thrilling encounter, with both teams looking to gain the upper hand in the series. With Shoriful and his team confident of bouncing back, the stage is set for an exciting match.
