'Winning first match gave us the belief'- Tamim Iqbal on Bangladesh's historic ODI series win in South Africa

Team Bangladesh scripted history on Wednesday (March 23) as they won their maiden ODI series in South Africa. Led by Tamim Iqbal, the visitors thrashed South Africa by nine wickets in the third and final ODI, clinching the three-match affair 2-1. Notably, this is the same South African team which defeated and whitewashed India 3-0 in the ODI series a couple of months ago.

However, the Bangla Tigers proved to be too good for them. Skipper Tamim led the team from the front and made his bat talk throughout the series. He even scored an unbeaten 82-ball 87 in the deciding clash as Bangladesh chased down 155 inside 27 overs. Needless to mention, Tamim was delighted with the outcome and he expressed the same in the post-match press conference.

Notably, before this series, Bangladesh hadn’t won a single ODI in the rainbow nation. In regards to the same, Tamim said that a 38-run win in the opening ODI gave his side the belief that they can go on to win the series as well.

It was a great team performance and I cannot be happier: Tamim Iqbal

“When we won the first match we started believing that there is a good chance that we can win the series and today it was a great team performance and I cannot be happier,” Tamim told reporters after the game.

“To win a series in South Africa is very difficult. They won a series against full strength India 3-0. We had the belief that we can win the series but for that we would have had to play extremely well. To win the series for the first time coming to South Africa we needed to do things out of the box and to play the best cricket that we possibly could,” he added.

Meanwhile, South Africa were no match for the visitors in the third and deciding clash. Batting first at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, the hosts were bundled out for just 154 with pacer Taskin Ahmed scalping a five-wicket haul. In reply, the visitors crossed the line in just 26.3 overs, clinching the contest by nine wickets.