'Dew the main factor', says Liton after Tigers' UAE series loss

Bangladesh skipper Liton Das said that the dew factor played the main role in their series loss against the inexperienced UAE after the Tigers lost the third and final game of the three-match series by seven wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.

UAE won the series 2-1 after the series, which was originally scheduled as a two-match affair, was extended by a game after the Emirates Cricket Board accepted the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) proposal.

"We bowled second in all three games, and dew is the main factor," said Liton at the post-match presentation yesterday.

Liton, who was recently named captain of the T20 side, also felt the Tigers should have played a higher standard of cricket in the series.

"Definitely, it's [the performance] not up to the mark. When you come here, you always think about winning the game. But still, it is part of life. And when you play cricket, sometimes the opposition plays really well -- so, credit goes to them also.

"We made a couple of mistakes in batting today as well. I think this is not the level of performance that we want on such a surface and in these conditions."

Bangladesh put on a shambolic batting display in the game yesterday, and if it were not for Jaker Ali's 34-ball 41 and two unbeaten cameo knocks from tailenders Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam, the Tigers would not have been able to post 162 for nine in 20 overs.

In fact, despite an 18-ball 40-run knock from opener Tanzid Tamim, Bangladesh were on the verge of getting bundled out for under the 100-run mark. They were reeling at eight for 84 at one stage of the game, before some late flurry helped the Tigers get to a respectable total.

But the target was still not enough, as the hosts UAE, ranked six places below ninth-ranked Bangladesh in T20Is, chased it down with five balls to spare.

Having lost the first game by 27 runs, UAE secured a two-wicket win in the second game. And, with the series extended by a game, UAE has now secured only their second T20I series win against a full-member team, having beaten Ireland 2-1 in 2021.

For Bangladesh, this was the second time they lost a series to an associate nation, having suffered a 2-1 defeat against the USA ahead of the T20 World Cup last year.