Tigers eager for improvement in second T20I

Bangladesh skipper Liton Das said that they need to improve death overs batting and also focus on making the most out of conditions with the ball in the second T20I against UAE on Monday.

Barring Parvez Hossain Emon's ton, Bangladesh batters did not have the impact they should have had on a batting-friendly surface in the first match of the two-match series which Bangladesh won by 27 runs.

The Tigers need to address their batting-order issues as Mahedi Hasan came in front of Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain. Neither of the three batters contributed anything significant to the score and thus having reached 103 in the first 10 overs, Bangladesh could only manage 191 for seven in the end, thanks to Emon's 54-ball 100.

"Definitely, it was a good total. The wicket was very good for batting and the way Emon batted was outstanding. But we have to finish better. We couldn't score much in the last three overs," Liton said after the match.

PHOTO: EMIRATES CRICKET

The bowlers, too, found it difficult to contain UAE at the beginning, and at one point of the chase the hosts had found themselves in the driving seat before the bowlers produced key wickets to grab the win.

"I always know my bowlers can bounce back at any time. I trust our bowling unit," Liton said. "That said, credit to the UAE batters as well. They batted very well in the middle overs and we need to learn from this -- to understand what kind of bowling works on this pitch. The way all the bowlers bowled and showed composure was impressive. It looked 50-50 in the middle overs, but they pulled it back brilliantly," he added.

Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers, getting in crucial overs in the middle and finishing with two wickets for 17 runs. With Mustafizur departing for his IPL stint and unavailable for the second T20I, the bowling department would have to find answers. In particular, Mahedi Hasan's spells were the most expensive and a remedy in the Powerplay phase might be needed in case Bangladesh's plans with Mahedi do not work in the Powerplay.

For Emon, the match would go a long way to bolstering his confidence in this T20I outfit, having become just the second Bangladesh batter after Tamim Iqbal to notch a T20I ton.

Having played to his strength, Emon would look to keep the momentum going but the other batters have their work cut out to produce a meaningful score after a disappointing first game in the UAE.