Afghanistan coach Andy Moles lamented his team didn't give a true reflection of the way they play their cricket after a comprehensive first up World Cup defeat to Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Afghanistan could not overcome the Test-playing nation, who they beat at last year's Asia Cup one-day tournament.

"We genuinely thought this was a game we could win tonight," Moles told reporters. "I still believe that if we had applied ourselves better then we would have given a better account.

"The Bangladesh boys have got far more experience than us.

"We haven't disgraced ourselves, but that wasn't a true reflection on the work we do in preparation and the way we play our cricket."

Moles, who can lay claim to being the holder of possibly the sport's most dangerous job -- coach of war-weary Afghanistan -- said his team had to take the loss on the chin and prepare for their next tough assignment against 1996 champions Sri Lanka in Dunedin on Sunday.

"One of the issues we've had is that we do well with bat and ball for 35 overs and it's that extra 15 overs where we need to work on our concentration levels, our discipline, our execution and it's something we have spoken about regularly," Moles said.