Home ›› 03 Sep 2022 ›› Sport
Bangladesh suffered a two-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka on Thursday, which saw them knocked out of the Asia Cup from the group stage for the first time in eight years.
In the last two editions, Bangladesh reached the final. But this time around, their journey ended in the group stage after two defeats in two matches. And in both matches, their death bowling let them down.
In the first match against Afghanistan, despite their low total of 127, the Tigers had 63 runs to defend in the last six overs. But they conceded those in just 4.3 overs.
Against Sri Lanka, they had 43 in hand in the last four overs. When Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka was out, the Lankans still needed 26 from 13 balls. But Ebadot Hossain conceded 17 in the penultimate over, ensuring the defeat.
With the World Cup in Australia later this year, death bowling will be more than crucial. And from the signs they have shown thus far, Bangladesh have little to believe with Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saif Uddin, Taskin Ahmed, and Ebadot all flopping at the death in the two matches.
And that is probably why skipper Shakib Al Hasan identified improvement at the death as the most important thing for the World Cup later this year in the post-match press conference.
“We have to find five overs of death bowling. If we can improve in that area, I think we’ll improve a lot. We have been giving away runs consistently in the last five overs. There are a lot of other areas we need to improve, but if you want me to point out one area, that’s the one I would want to improve from here to the World Cup,” he said.
Against Sri Lanka, Shakib only had Ebadot to bowl at the death as both Mustafiz and Taskin were bowled out. Shakib explained his decision by saying he wanted to get wickets to put the match in their pocket early on.
“Our plan was to get their batsmen out, and that’s exactly what we did. In the last two overs, they needed 26 or 25, and with eight wickets down, you’d back your main bowlers to defend those runs against their bowlers,” the Bangladesh skipper said.
Bangladesh might have even not needed their death bowling to be better if they, particularly Mushfiqur Rahim, had been up to the mark on other facets of the game.
Mushfiq dropped Kusal Mendis, who went on score 60 and win the player of the match award, on two, and then did not hear an edge from the batsman when he was on 31. Kusal also survived getting out on 29 as he was caught behind, but off-spinner Shak Mahedi Hasan overstepped, and then Sabbir Rahman also missed an easy run-out opportunity.
Bangladesh also bowled 12 extra deliveries including eight wides and four no-balls, another reason behind their defeat despite scoring 183-7, their highest total in UAE.
Shakib said that they needed to improve under pressure and also emotionally.
“Obviously, it’s a crime for a spinner to bowl no balls. Normally, our spinners don’t concede no balls. Since today was a pressure match, I think it shows how we crumble under pressure. Skillwise, we can improve, but we crumble in pressure situations. We are always losing in crunch moments. I think it’s very important for us to improve in this area.
“We are very emotional. That is another area we need to improve. We need to keep our emotions on the side and play the way we need to. We need to play more with our head rather than our heart,” the Bangladesh skipper said.
Despite their defeat, Bangladesh can take some heart from their batting as Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mosaddek Hossain, and Afif Hossain showed their capabilities. Mehidy, as a makeshift opener, gave Bangladesh a fiery start with his 38 off 26 deliveries, while Afif displayed his talents to score 39 off just 22 deliveries. Then Mosaddek provided the final flourish as he scored 24 off just nine deliveries.
But in the end, that was not enough. And it was probably another sign that Bangladesh should invest in youth, rather than holding on to the veterans, who once again failed with the bat despite playing on a batting paradise.
