This young group had no fear: Hathurusinghe

ANI, Mount Maunganui: Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on Sunday praised the attitude of the “young group” in the ‘Bengal Tigers’ squad and said that they are fearless.

While speaking after the end of the 3rd T20I match between Bangladesh and New Zealand, Hathurusinghe also hailed Najmul Hossain Shanto’s leadership skills and said that he was “tactically spot on” during the game.

“The attitude of the players, this young group had no fear. They wanted to compete in the middle. The other thing… the leadership of Shanto. Outstanding. He was tactically spot on, and very clear with the messages with the players, and what he expects from them. And I thought we did the basics longer than before,” Hathurusinghe was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

The head coach revealed the atmosphere in Bangladesh’s dressing room is “much better” now since the communication is clear.

“Seniors not [being] here has nothing to do with these guys’ attitude. They enjoy their cricket, and I think the environment in the dressing room is much better because the communication is very clear, as I said, from Shanto. And they know they are good enough players to compete. That’s why there’s no fear in the players’ minds,” he added.

The three-match T20I series has ended in a 1-1 draw. The second T20I could not produce a result due to rain.

Recapping the third T20I match, New Zealand put Bangladesh to field first. Soumya Sarkar (4) was quickly removed by Tim Southee.

Rony Talukdar and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto got a solid start but could not get going as Ben Sears trapped Talukdar lbw for just 10 while Adam Milne removed Shanto for 17 after he offered an easy catch to Finn Allen.

Then following this, Santner ran through the middle order, removing Afif Hossain (14), Towhid Hridoy (16), Mahedi Hasan (4) and Shamim Hossain (9) one by one, sinking Bangladesh to 81/7 in 14.5 overs.

In the chase of 111 runs, Allen went for big shots from one end, witnessing the wickets fall from the other end. Mahendi got Tim Seifert, and Daryl Mitchell, while Shoriful Islam dismissed Glenn Phillips. Mark Chapman was also run out. All these batters could score just one run each. Kiwis were 38/4 in 6.5 overs.

Allen was removed by Shoriful for 38 off 31 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes. Half of the Kiwi line-up was back in the pavilion for 49 runs. James Neesham and Santner stitched a match-saving partnership. They took NZ on the brink of a win but rain god intervened and NZ got a 17-run win via DLS Method. Neesham scored 28* in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes while Santner made 18* in 20 balls, with a boundary.