A lesson in T20 chases for Tigers
Bangladesh might have missed out on the opportunity to seal their maiden T20 series against Sri Lanka in Sylhet on Saturday, but in the sense of preparation for the forthcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup, the 2-1 series loss to the visitors was not a complete bust.
Some new players put their hands up with the bat while there were some positive signs in the bowling department as well. However, the failed chases also indicate that the Bangladesh batters are yet to find the correct blend between aggression and caution while batting second in the shortest format.
Bangladesh have one more T20 series left before the World Cup in June-July, a five-match home series against Zimbabwe in April.
Although the matches against Zimbabwe, who could not qualify for the 16-team T20 extravaganza, would give Bangladesh some decent match practice ahead of the tournament, it is unlikely to prepare the Tigers for the uphill challenges that a World Cup usually present.
In the Sri Lanka series, a common factor in both of Bangladesh's defeats was the top-order falling apart cheaply.
In the first match, the pressure of chasing 207 got the better of them as Bangladesh were three down inside five overs.
In the third one, chasing 175, the top-order imploded against pacer Nuwan Thushara, who struck four times inside nine balls, including a hattrick, leaving Bangladesh teetering on 24 for five inside six overs.
Ironically, Bangladesh's three most explosive innings in the series came in losing efforts. Nevertheless, the good sign is that the middle and lower-middle-order batters displayed some firepower, something the Tigers usually lack in T20s.
In the first match, it was the experienced Mahmudullah Riyad and young gun Jaker Ali, who together plundered 10 sixes and six fours and scored at a combined strike rate of 187.7 as Bangladesh finished just three runs short of Sri Lanka's tally.
In the third T20I, Mahmudullah and Jaker could not repeat their heroics but Rishad Hossain showed his six-hitting prowess by plundering seven sixes, the most by a Bangladeshi batter in a T20I innings, breaking the record set by Jaker in the first game for smashing six maximums.
In between the two unsuccessful chases, the hosts had one successful chase in the second match in which openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar batted sensibly and without taking unnecessary risks, making 63 runs in the Powerplay. After that, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy played their natural game and guided Bangladesh to their 166-run target with 11 balls to spare.All three matches were played on greenish wickets with decent bounce, something that must have been a good test for the Bangladesh bowlers considering what they are likely to encounter on ICC-curated pitches in the USA and the West Indies in the T20 World Cup.
After being on the expensive side in the first match, pacers Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed did well in the following two games. However, failing to make his variations come into play, the Tigers' most experienced T20 pacer Mustafizur Rahman struggled throughout, going for 10.91 runs per over in the series.
But more than the individual performances, the series gave the Bangladesh team a lesson on how to plan a chase on flat tracks in T20s, a lesson that could come in handy in the upcoming mega T20 event.