SA vs BAN: We Had The Belief That We Can Win The Series - Tamim Iqbal After Bangladesh's Historic ODI Series Win Over South Africa
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal was expectedly ecstatic after his side managed to put up a clinical performance in the third ODI and demolish South Africa by 9 wickets. They went on to seal the series 2-1, their first win on Proteas soil.
South Africa was coming into the series on the back of a crushing 3-0 whitewash over favourites, India. However, they played far from their best, succumbing to the immense pressure from the visiting Bangladeshi team.
“When we won the first match we started believing that there is a good chance that we can win the series and today it was a great team performance and I cannot be happier. To win a series in South Africa is very difficult. They won a series against full-strength India 3-0.”
“We had the belief that we can win the series but for that, we would have had to play extremely well. To win the series for the first time coming to South Africa we needed to do things out of the box and to play the best cricket that we possibly could,” Tamim said after the match.
Tamim Iqbal proud of the ever-improving Bangladeshi pace attack
Notably, it was the fast bowlers of Bangladesh who fetched them the victory. Often seen as the team that is dependent on their spinners, it comes as a welcome relief for Tamim that the pacers managed to fetch them the win this time around.
“I am really proud of the way we played. A pacer picked up five wickets and he became the Player of the Series. Usually, we think of the Bangladeshi team as a side of left-arm spinners or off-spinners but our fast bowling unit is improving and they have performed incredibly during the last two years.”
“I am really proud to see Taskin picking the Player of the Match and Man of the Series awards. I cannot forget the contribution of the other two pace bowlers Mustafizur and Shoriful. Mustafizur did the most difficult job like he bowls in the death and at the top,” Tamim further added.
Taskin Ahmed picked up a five-wicket haul, the first for a Bangladeshi on Proteas soil. He also won the Player of the Series award.
