Mortaza feels good days lie ahead for Bangladesh

This sort of performance really helps us to move forward, especially with the 2019 World Cup (in England) coming up. It will really boost the team.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza believes his side can face the future with renewed confidence.

The Tigers gave themselves a shot at a last four spot with a stunning five-wicket win over New Zealand in Cardiff on Friday. Bangladesh collapsed to 12 for three and were facing a humiliating loss at 33 for four in the 12th over.

But Shakib Al Hasan (114) and Mahmudullah (102 not out) responded to the pressure of a dire position in a must-win game with a brilliant new Bangladesh record partnership of 224 that turned the match upside down and eventually saw New Zealand eliminated.

Bangladesh were helped as England beat Australia in the final Group A match at Edgbaston on Saturday as they went through to the last four of an event featuring the world’s top eight ODI teams.

“That will be nice (if England win), but we can’t just expect Australia to lose that game,” Mortaza had told reporters just after Friday’s match.

“Whatever we could do we did. That is most important for us.”

The paceman added: “Once in the semis, we will hopefully play better cricket than in the last three matches. In the last three years we keep improving a lot.

“This sort of performance really helps us to move forward, especially with the 2019 World Cup (in England) coming up. It will really boost the team.”

Bangladesh, making their first appearance at the Champions Trophy in 11 years, saw star batsman Tamim Iqbal out for a second-ball duck as they chased a seemingly modest target of 266.

“We thought 266 was gettable, but after 33 for four it became very hard,” Mortaza said. “Once the partnership got to a hundred I knew those two could make a difference. They’ve done it a lot of other times, but it was phenomenal to get a 200 partnership.

“We know Tamim cannot get a score every time, but we have got some excellent players who can win games,” he added, after Bangladesh enjoyed another memorable win in Cardiff to follow their colossal upset ODI victory over Australia in the Welsh capital back in 2005.