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Tamim Iqbal livid after final-over choke

Tamim Iqbal praised Mahmudullah's nerve for bowling a tight final over of a chase, but said that it was for Chittagong's to lose, and they did

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
12-Nov-2016
"We don't deserve to play here if we have to do spoon feeding at this level."  •  BCB

"We don't deserve to play here if we have to do spoon feeding at this level."  •  BCB

Mahmudullah was celebrating his side's four-run win over Chittagong Vikings, but the tension that was palpable when he was asked to defend six off the final over didn't wear off even after the post-match presentation. The Khulna Titans captain said that his primary target was to keep Mohammad Nabi off strike but ended up taking his wicket off the last ball.
This was the second time Mahmudullah sealed a tense win off the last over. In their first game against Rajshahi Kings, Mahmudullah took three wickets. Here too, he had three scalps and conceded just one run to take his side to No. 2 in the points table.
"I don't know, it just happened," Mahmudullah said when asked about he managed to defend six runs all over again. "My hands are still sweating. I just tried to keep [Mohammad] Nabi off strike, but the Chaturanga [de Silva] wicket was also important. I got a lot of confidence after giving away a single off the first ball and then getting that wicket with the next ball.
"I don't want to bowl in the death overs but had to do so because my main bowlers had their spells finished. I have been successful on two occasions now, but it can be different in the next game. But I am ready to take the chance again."
But the emotion was contrasting in the Chittagong camp where captain Tamim Iqbal was livid. He didn't single out anyone but he questioned the batsmen's mindset after they wilted in the final over.
"We will keep losing if we play this sort of cricket," he said. "Maybe the batsmen doesn't have problem with skill but there's definitely something wrong in his head if he doesn't understand something after sending 20 messages. We don't deserve to play here if we have to do spoon feeding at this level. I don't want to say the name, but I am talking about the batsmen."
He praised Mahmudullah's nerve for bowling a tight final over of a chase, but said that it was for Chittagong's to lose, and they did. "The match Riyad bhai won them, can only happen once every ten games. But he must be doing something right, now that he has done it twice," he said. "Credit goes to him because he bowled well but I think we are more to blame for losing this game. We had two set batsmen in the middle with just six runs to win."

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84