'A lack of application'

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was left wondering whether to look at the glass as half empty or half full after a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of Sri Lanka. On the one hand, Bangladesh won the first three matches of the tri-series handsomely and booked a place in tomorrow's final without breaking sweat and yesterday's 82-all-out debacle could be seen as just one of those days. On the other, it could be seen as a reversion to the middle-order batsmen's inability to grind themselves back into the match when the going gets tough.

In the post-match press conference after the last league game, Mashrafe seemed to settle on a glass half empty.

"We played very poor cricket," said Mashrafe. "We can say that we had a bad day, but I will say we played bad cricket."

Although the wicket was a slow one and offered variable pace and bounce, Mashrafe did not resort to using it as an excuse, and instead focused on the failure of the middle order. "Since we had lost early wickets, the focus could have been on rebuilding the innings rather than looking for runs. We had the ability to score 180-200 even after losing four early wickets. There was a lack of application."

Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, who had formed the basis of Bangladesh's batting in the last three games, had both fallen in the fifth over and that left the middle order exposed. Before that, recalled opener Anamul Haque started the rot by leaving a well-known gap between bat and pad, and after the stalwarts' dismissals the middle order of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain scored 43 runs.

"I am not going to complain about them since they have been working hard. They had a good opportunity today," said Mashrafe about Anamul, Mahmudullah, Sabbir and Nasir. "We got bowled out in 24 overs. They could have spent some time in the middle, even batting with a lower strike-rate. They are trying hard. Two of these batsmen have been playing for a long time and they know how to get out of difficult situations."

Mashrafe was not buying the line of thinking that with Shakib and Tamim going great guns at the top of the order, those lower down the order were untested in the ongoing tri-series. "I don't think they were untested. They had a chance against Zimbabwe. We failed on both occasions now. After putting Shakib in the top-order, they have been doing what we expect of them. Now the middle-order has to take the responsibility."

When talking about Sabbir and Nasir, Mashrafe identified a problem in the domestic cricket culture that is not necessarily conducive to playing patient innings when in trouble. "Possibly they are not able to absorb the pressure. Maybe they like to score runs quickly rather than spend time in the middle. In our first-class cricket, they have 100 strike-rates after early wickets. It is possibly beyond our nature to slow down after the fall of few wickets. I think they are feeling guilty, probably more than me. I want them to think about it before the final, but they should also remain positive."

With opener Imrul Kayes added to the squad for the final, Anamul's position after failing in two successive matches was something to think about. "We will have to think about it. There has been a lot of talk about Bijoy [Anamul], that he is scoring runs in all levels -- in BPL and first-class cricket. I think more than us, you have exposed him, which is true. We have full faith in him, which is why he is still playing continuously. There's certainly a gap between our first-class level and international cricket."