Bangladesh all-rounder Soumya Sarkar starred with both bat and ball as he helped his team to beat Zimbabwe in a high-scoring third and final encounter to seal the T20I series on Sunday (July 25).
Sarkar returned figures of 2/19 with the ball before playing a composed innings at the top of the order, cracking 68 runs off 49 balls, including nine fours and a six, Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by five wickets and clinch the three-match T20I series 2-1 in Harare on Sunday.
He said in the presser after the game: “I didn't try to push anything (push the scoring rate) when they were bowling with the new ball because the bounce was not even: some were keeping low while other (deliveries) were carrying (through) at a good height.”
The all-rounder added, “So I was waiting for one big over because I knew when we can have one big over, the momentum will come on our side. I was only trying to hit one boundary in every over.”
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The left-hander also said he didn’t expect to open for Bangladesh in the final T20I on Sunday. He further added, “I was not thinking about my batting position. The only thing I was thinking is that I need to give my best and if I can do that it will be good for me. I am happy to be the Man of the Series, but the most important thing is that I played well.”
Sarkar also hailed Shamim Hossain, who blasted a 16-ball 31* and stitched a crucial stand of 37 with Mamudullah to help Bangladesh eclipse Zimbabwe's 193 with four balls to spare on Sunday.
The 28-year-old said, “I think he played an important role and there was some positivity and hunger in him that he wants to win the match by himself and it felt good to see.”
Meanwhile, Hossain said of his innings in the final T20I: “I couldn't finish the last match so I had that hunger. I had a target within myself that if I get another opportunity in the next match, then I'd be finishing the game. So now that I have done it, it feels wonderful.”
Hossain signed off by saying, “I had played at the Under-19 level and I had also played in the Dhaka Premier League cricket, but international cricket is very different from it and I am realizing it now. Batsmen get very few loose deliveries in international cricket. They need to maintain the process as well as take the responsibilities.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
