Tigers set eye on semis, say SA win bigger than victory over India

Georgetown, Guyana, Apr 8 (UNI) Having stunned the cricket world by upset victories over two superpowers of the game, giant killers Bangladesh now assert that they are no more 'minnows' and instead have set sights of a last four place in the World Cup.

''I leave it to the people to call us minnows or something else but I think we have chance to reach the semi-finals if we can follow the basics and play like today,'' said captain Habibul Bashar after his side's shock 67-run victory over South Africa yesterday.

Bashar's men had already thrown India out of the showpiece event with a five-wicket win over their western neighbours in the group stage and now jeopardising the chances of the world number one ODI team.

The win over the Proteas also proved their qualification to the Super Eights was not a fluke.

''After the India win, we desperately wanted to win our Super Eight matches to prove that we are not just push overs,'' he said.

Bangladesh had lost their first two matches of the Super Eights against New Zeeland and Australia tamely. Their next fixture is against England on April 11, before taking on Ireland (April 15) and West Indies (April 19).

Bashar said if they maintain their current form, they will definitely pose a serious threat to England in their next Super Eight match.

''England batsmen are not good players of spin and we have three different spinners in our team. So we have an outside chance of making it to the semi-finals if we can play like this and defeat England,'' he said.

Praising young batsman Mohammed Ashraful for his match-winning innings, a jubilant Bashar said, ''He (Ashraful) played the innings of his life and it was also the highest score by any Bangladeshi in the World Cup. He set the match for us and in any wicket 250 is always a defendable total.'' Asked to choose between the wins against India and South Africa, Bashar went for the one against ICC ODI chart toppers South Africa.

''This victory is bigger and more important for us than that against India. Because first of all it is in the Super Eights and to add to it against the World number one team, so obviously it is better,'' Bashar said after registering one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

Meanwhile, his counterpart Graeme Smith gave all credit to the Tigers for their impressive show against his side.

''Let's not take the credit away from them. They played much better than us and we did not play cricket we are capable of. We gave them chances and they grabbed with both hands. You can not win matches like that,'' said a disappointed Smith.

UNI