USA picked up a historic win against Bangladesh in the first T20I of the three-match series and sent a message to all teams ahead of their debut in the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup 2024. Harmeet Singh, who won the Player of the Match award for his astonishing knock also warned the visitors for underestimating them as walkovers.
Harmeet Singh sent warning
Harmeet Singh played a match-winning knock of 33 runs off just 13 balls and turned the tables on Bangladesh. He alongside veteran player Corey Anderson joined a crucial partnership for the hosts and allowed them to secure their first T20I win over a Test-playing nation. Harmeet even warned Bangladesh about underestimating them.
"You don't always get an opportunity to win a game against a big side like this every day. The way the boys have been training, it is a personal effort from everybody. It means a lot to us to put on a show against Bangladesh. We are no walkovers. I think our potential is immense. We have a lot of match-winners on the team. It gives us the edge. We bat as well (as anyone) now," Harmeet was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"We believed that Fizz would bowl against the wind over, but when I saw him bowl from the other end, with the wind, I thought we had a chance to sneak in a 20-run over from the other side. I think either they took us lightly, or I don't know. They didn't have bowlers to bowl with from the other side. I told the guys before the game that Bangladesh are a good team on paper, but if we go down without a fight, it won't send a good message. We know the wicket, as this is our home condition. We know everything about this ground. It is a T20 format. After a couple of hiccups, we push them into the powerplay. Then you can corner them and close out the game," he added.
Shanto blames batters and Zimbabwe pitches for loss
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto blamed batters after the shocking defeat as they could only set a target of 154 at the Prairie View Cricket Complex in Houston, on May 21 (Tuesday). He also said that the pitches of Zimbabwe were one of the reasons behind batters' underwhelming performance.
"We didn't bat well. We started well but in the middle lost a couple of wickets. We needed to score more and then it could have been defended. We didn't play on good wickets in Zimbabwe, so the batters are struggling. But it is a mental thing and the batters can come back. The spinners bowled really well, our seamers didn't execute their plans. Hope they can execute better," Shanto said in the post-match presentation.
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