Mustafizur Rahman was the hero of the 4-run victory in the last ODI against the Irish, but Najmul Hossain Shanto played an important role in this victory with the ball.
After 35 runs from 32 balls with the bat, he stunned the Ireland batters the ball. He took the important wicket of Harry Tector by bowling 3 overs at the cost of 10 runs.
When Ireland’s Tector and Lorcan Tucker were putting Ireland in a strong position on Sunday’s match, captain Tamim Iqbal put the ball into Shanto’s hands as Shanto gave Bangladesh an important breakthrough to back into the match by breaking 79-run partnership between the two set batters.
“I just followed my process. I practiced a lot with Herath (Rangana) and things came off. The captain had told me I'll bowl, Miraz helped me a lot while bowling. I followed his instructions. I didn't ask for the ball today but have asked him to bowl me. I try to follow Mehidy's action but can't follow it properly,” Shanto, who was adjudged as the player of the series said in the presentation.
Shanto scored his first century in 50-over cricket in the second match against Ireland. Based on his innings of 117 runs, Bangladesh got a great victory. Shanto took his first international wicket today. Shanto was asked, first century or first wicket which one is the special?
“The first hundred is more special, I hope I can continue my batting form. It feels very nice to have had the crowd. They come everywhere we play, grateful to have them. I'm still not an all-rounder but Tamim probably now believes I can bowl,” he added.
