Taunton: Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza heaped praise on team mate Shakib Al Hasan after the all-rounder scored his second century in as many World Cup matches to lead them to a big win over the West Indies on Monday.
Shakib’s unbeaten 124 off 99 deliveries helped the Tigers record the second-highest run chase in World Cup history with a seven-wicket victory.
Chasing 322 for a famous victory, the 32-year-old took control with his ninth ODI century as Bangladesh secured the win with 51 balls to spare.
“Shakib Al Hasan has made it in this World Cup now,” said Mortaza. “In every match he’s doing something that’s exceptional and let’s hope it continues for the team.”
“Liton Das normally opens or bats at number three but he’s coped with moving down the order and he’s delivered the goods.”
The result leaves Bangladesh fifth in the table on five points ahead of their clash with holders Australia on Thursday.
“We have a chance to go through but we have to win all of our matches,” he added.
“The turning moment was when Mustafizur Rahman took two wickets in an over to remove Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell.”
The result leaves West Indies seventh in the standings before they face New Zealand on Saturday.
Asked whether batting or bowling was at fault for the defeat, captain Jason Holder said: “Bit of both, we were probably 40-50 runs short, the wicket played really well, but we could have been more disciplined with the ball and we let ourselves down in the field as well.
“I thought we got through the first 10 overs well batting but never got the momentum and had too much to do at the back end.
“We then didn’t get wickets, we tried to hit the top of the stumps but we were too inconsistent and we should have been more disciplined. From here on everything is a final for us.”
