Bangladesh get a taste of their own medicine

Bangladesh had a great opportunity of claiming their first-ever twenty20 international series win against New Zealand on Sunday but they missed out by losing the third T20I of the five-match series by 52 runs after a poor batting display that saw them bowled out for 76.

Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was the star of the match with four wickets for 16 runs, but it was more to their shot selection that the Bangladesh batsmen succumbed. Bangladesh batsmen tried to play with positive intent but failed horribly.

After getting off to a good start hitting three boundaries, Liton Das was trapped LBW after he tried to sweep a short delivery. Shak Mahedi Hasan, promoted to no.3, also departed to an innocuous short delivery, and Shakib Al Hasan tried to hoick the ball out of the park straight away, despite his team being in trouble.

Naim Sheikh tried to play a delivery away from his body and could only manage an inside edge, and Afif Hossain fell to a straight delivery from Patel.

The only batsman to survive the longest was Mushfiqur Rahim, but his innings of 20 from 37 deliveries did no help.

Another problem for Bangladesh had was their failure to put together partnerships. The opening stand of 23 runs was the highest in their innings.

Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo said after the match that he did not see any problem with the batting approach, but the problem was that they lost wickets in clusters.

“I don’t think there was a problem with the batting approach. We wanted to try and stay ahead of the run rate because once you are behind the run rate it’s difficult to catch up. So we wanted to start nice and positively.

“Unfortunately, we lost a few early wickets and lost wickets in clusters. Very difficult for the new batsman to come in and start knocking the ball around. That was probably the issue. Got off to a good start but then in the next 4-5 overs, we lost 4-5 wickets that set us back massively,” he said.

Domingo said they expected the wicket to get better in the second half like the second T20I of the series, but it did not.

“(New Zealand’s score was) Probably a par score. We were hoping that it would skid like the other night, but obviously, the wicket did not get much better, probably got a little worse. 20 after two overs, needing 110, disappointed with how the game finished,” Tigers head coach added.

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad repeated his coach’s words about losing wickets in clusters and hoped to do well in the next game.

“The bowlers did a great job restricting them under 130. We started well but could not capitalise, we lost wickets in clusters. Hopefully, we will turn it around and come back strong,” he said.

Mahmudullah, playing his 100th T20I on Sunday, said that there are still a couple of games to go and he is hoping to win the series.

“There are still a couple of games to go. We will try to win the next game and the series too,” he added.