Bangladesh has qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup 2015 following their victory over England at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. Bangladesh’s victory means Sri Lanka has secured the fourth and final spot from Pool A in the last eight stage of the tournament.
“Feel very proud and a special thanks to the team management and coaching staff, and of course to the boys as well,” Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza said. “Thought the wicket was really good and we had to bowl well. In the start we were not so good, but in the middle we came back well.
“Mahmudullah scored his first hundred for Bangladesh, and Mushfiqur was also brilliant at the end. I think Rubel Hossain will be very happy now as he picked up four crucial wickets. Tamim did feel really bad after that dropped catch, as he is one of our best fielders, but in the end it didn’t matter.”
“We had a good combination today, especially with the seven batsmen,” he concluded. “They showed their guts today, and the bowlers then did a very good job.”
Bangladesh will play its quarter-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday, 19 March while Sri Lanka, as previously announced, will play its quarter-final at the SCG on March 18, against opponents to be determined by the respective finishing positions in the pool stage.
“Really impressed by the attitude of our boys,” Mahmudullah said. “All the boys chipped in and everything went well. I was just trying to bat properly and not think too much. Soumya batted really well, along with Mushy, who was the aggressor towards the end.”
Australia and New Zealand from Pool A and India from Pool B have already qualified for the quarter-final stage. Australia will play its quarter-final in Adelaide on March 20 while New Zealand will play its quarter-final in Wellington on March 21 with the opponents still to be determined.
