Even after taking the game to the last over, Bangladesh couldn't chase a mere target of 114 runs against South Africa in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The match occurred at the Nassau County Cricket International Stadium, New York, where the pitches aren't quite favourable for the batters. Hence, most of the matches are low-scoring games, and the pace bowlers end up taking the most wickets.
Moreover, Bangladesh's batting failed against the Proteas dynamic bowling attack. However, former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag took a dig at the all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for throwing away his wicket off Anrich Nortje's ball. He played a pull-short but couldn't time the ball properly in the middle of the innings. The shot was unnecessary, and he could have stayed there on the crease for some time.
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"Atleast spend some time at this wicket, it is not like you are not Hayden or Gilchrist who can play a pull shot of a short ball, you are just a player from Bangladesh. Play according to your standards. When you are not able to play hook or pull, so just play the strokes that you know," said Sehwag, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
It’s all conditions dependent so we wanted to drag the game out: Aiden Markram
The pitches in New York aren't very favourable for the batters, and hence, the bowlers take full advantage of them. While chasing a score of 114 runs, Bangladesh wasted a lot of balls in the middle overs, which cost them the game, and hence, skipper Aiden Markram utilized the situation and won the match. He gave a brief about their plan at the post-match presentation.
"You want to drag the game out as long as you can, it’s all conditions dependent so we wanted to drag the game out. We put him under quite a bit of pressure but David (Miller) has done it back to back to get us to decent scores," said Markram at the post-match presentation.