Tuesday, 10 March 2015 01:17
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ADELAIDE (Reuters): Bangladesh’s first qualification for the knockout stages of a World Cup will prove a stepping stone for further glory, captain Mashrafe Mortaza said on Monday.
The Tigers stunned England by 15 runs to secure a quarter-final place in a tournament at which their previous best performance was reaching the super eight stage in 2007.
They upset Pakistan in 1999 and India in 2007 but this will be the first time Bangladesh will feature in the last eight of a World Cup.
“It’s a great turnaround for us,” Mortaza told reporters after his team’s memorably victory at the Adelaide Oval.
“If I go back, I think our problem was a bit consistency, but in this World Cup, two out of these five matches we have been very consistent, and hopefully it will keep going for next few matches.
“Obviously, the boys are really happy and hope that is one of the best turns for us and the Bangladesh cricket will move from here,” said Mortaza.
“Back home, people were expecting we’d go through. But we know how difficult it was in Australia because we never played in these kind of pitches.”
The team’s victory triggered wild celebration back home and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina praised the Bangladesh players.
“We were expecting Bangladesh to win and we’ve won. We are very happy now,” said university student Samiya Zaman.
