Cricket World Cup 2023 - Shakib Al Hasan is happy to get what he wants from the Sri Lanka match - LSB

Bangladesh teamed up on a rare occasion in the World Cup, against Sri Lanka on Monday in Delhi. They kept Sri Lanka down to 279. They chased down the target with 41.1 overs. They did enough to jump up the points table, getting the net run rate boost they were looking for.

It all adds to the general feeling of regret about Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign.

Shakib Al Hasan, who received the man-of-the-match award for his 2 for 57 and 65-ball 82, in a 169-run third-wicket stand with Najm Hossain Shanto, who scored 90, expressed his disappointment at not achieving what Bangladesh set out to achieve. in the world Cup. Although they are now in a good position to qualify directly for the 2025 Champions Cup.

“If we did that [played like this] “In previous matches it could have been better. If we had won one or two more matches, we would have been in a good position,” Shakib said after the match against Sri Lanka. We had a lot of expectations. I thought we let ourselves down. I thought that the goal that we set within the team, what we thought we were capable of achieving, we were not able to achieve. “This is the disappointment we all feel.”

Shakib and Shanto’s stand, Bangladesh’s highest stand in terms of any wickets against Sri Lanka – after they were 41 for 2 in the seventh over – won the match for Bangladesh.

“It was a very important partnership,” Shakib said. “We talk about it constantly in the dressing room – we always need these partnerships to win games, especially in the top order. Other than that, we always repair the damage in the lower order. Today’s partnership won the match.”

Bangladesh have lost early wickets in most of their matches in the World Cup. For a change, Shanto and Shakib started cautiously before changing gears. They knew the dew in Delhi would also help them, so they needed to stay long enough, Shakib said.

“When we lost two wickets, we had to rebuild. We know the wicket is good. We had to bat deep, create a partnership and that will relieve a lot of pressure,” he said. “That’s exactly what we did, and when we had the opportunity, we took advantage, counter-attacked, and put a lot of pressure on them because it was not easy to play on. But the dew was helping us a lot.”

“We knew that ball was coming to bat, and we had to bat deep. When we were 17th and 18th over, we were just saying that if we batted to 30th over, we could get the game close to the ‘finish line.’ “If one of us stays, we can end it early.”

Shakib said Bangladesh’s plan was to win soon enough to boost their net run rate – not for the World Cup, but for the Champions Trophy. In fact, Shakib was the first to point out that qualifying for the Champions Trophy was linked to World Cup standings, so they worked on that.

“When we lost a few quick points, Shantu and I were still looking to chase them down in 41.2 or something that would put us ahead, I think, between two teams,” Shakib said. “That’s what we were looking to do. Trying to do that cost us some wickets. But in the end, we’re very happy with the way we played.”

The match will be remembered because Angelo Mathews became the first to be dismissed after an international cricket deadline. Matthews described Shakib’s behavior as “clearly disgraceful”, and much of the reaction so far has been against Bangladesh. But Bangladesh will be happy to have at least done something right despite their failed World Cup campaign.