The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Victorious Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful has said that the reason behind Bangladesh's emphatic victory over New Zealand in the first ODI of the BRAC Bank Series was a total team effort.

"That was a total team effort, at first we won the toss, we did well in batting and fielding, and most importantly Mashrafe's spell and Junaed's spectacular batting set the tone for us," he said at a post-match press conference at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) here Thursday.

Asked how he felt after returning to runs, the 24-year old batsman said that he always tried to play good cricket and hope to continue the day's form in the upcoming matches. Ashraful played an unbeaten 60 off 56 balls with five fours and a six to reach his 15th ODI fifty during the day's match.

Replying to a query, he said that his side is playing as a happy group since the Australia tour.

Asked if he was under pressure before taking on the match, Ashraful said: "Pressure is a thing that always helped us to deliver our best. In the past, we were able to snatch big wins overcoming pressure."

Replying to a query about his part in most of Bangladesh's wins, he said: "When I go to the field, I only focus on playing good innings and every good innings gives me immense pleasure."

Asked if his recent form put any pressure to his captaincy, the youngest test centurion said: "Although I was facing some difficulty in my batting, I enjoyed my captaincy. There was nothing wrong with my field placing, but just a good innings was required to come back in from."

Asked why they were not able to chase 198 in the last ODI during the Australia tour last month, Ashraful admitted that their game plan didn't work in that match, but fortunately they were able to play according to their game plan in the day's match.

Left-handed opener Junaed Siddique, who played a fabulous knock of 85 off 139 balls with 8 fours to be adjudged man of the match, termed the day's innings as his best in ODI career.

"I played the best innings of my ODI career, but the most important thing is that my side has won the match," he said.

Asked what was their plan when he paired with Tamim, the southpaw from Rajshahi Division said: "Our game plan was to stay at the wicket and we were able to do that. We are usually used to play spin better than the Kiwis, and we earlier discussed to stay at the wicket as long as possible."

About his fellow teammate and former national skipper Khaled Mashud Pilot, who retired from international cricket recently, Junaed said: "Pilot is our role model. He has always been a hard worker and he is our asset. It's not the ideal time to say whether I will be able to play like Pilot. Let's wait for the future."

Asked how tough it was for them to face a world class spinner like Daniel Vettori, who proved to be a successful bowler against the Tigers, Junaed said: "We believe to win the match from the very beginning."