Nazmul Hossain Shanto: “I haven’t been able to finish the innings in the past. But today I could, and that was a good sign.” © ICC
Bangladesh Under-19s batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto said his unbeaten 113 against Scotland Under-19s was special and stated that he had planned to rely more on singles than boundaries on a slow track in Cox’s Bazar. Shanto’s hundred took Bangladesh to 256 for 6 and they dismissed Scotland for 142 to make it to the quarter-final stage.
“This is a special day,” Shanto said. “We have made it through to the second round. I got a century and the team won. There was a bit of pressure because we lost two early wickets. The pitch wasn’t great, the ball not coming on to the bat. I just wanted to rotate the strike.”
Coming in to bat in the eighth over with the score at 17 for 2, Shanto scored a boundary through cover in his first ten deliveries but then held back his shots. His next boundary came after seven overs and he hit three more fours on his way to 50 off 71 balls
His next fifty, however, came off only as 40 balls as he reached his second Youth ODI century off 111 balls, with a whipped four of Scotland’s best bowler Mohammad Ghaffar, in the 48th over. Shanto was pleased that he could finish the innings, something he said he has struggled with previously.
“It is fun to bat in these situations which don’t come every day,” he said. “I tried to take my team to a better position. I haven’t been able to finish the innings in the past. But today I could, and that was a good sign. It will help me in the future.”
Bangladesh will play their last league game against Namibia Under-19s on February 2.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo