Another positive lesson in New Zealand!
Pacer Shoriful Islam dropping a return catch from Finn Allen, who would go on to smash a career-best 29-ball 71 in the third and final T20I in Auckland, was a fourth lifeline for the match-winner, who was dropped twice in the fourth over of yesterday's game.
Bangladesh went to New Zealand focused on getting a first-ever international win in the country against the hosts across any format. But the way Shoriful dropped a rather simple catch will only add to the cause of worries for the team management following batting and bowling debacles that saw them lose three ODIs and as many T20Is.
Head coach Russell Domingo, who tends to not excuse Bangladesh's after poor performances, will perhaps find some positives from the 65-run thrashing in the final game on the tour, which was reduced to 10-overs-a-side due to rain at Eden Park.
Among the positives could be that the Tigers were unable to bat out the entire 10 overs as they folded for 76 in 9.3 overs after the hosts posted 141 for 4. Domingo could like the positive intent from batsmen in chasing the target and blindly and attempting to charge bowlers despite losing wickets in every single over of their innings.
With a defeat in the third and final T20I, Bangladesh concluded a disastrous month-long sojourn, which saw whitewash defeats in both the ODI and T20I series.
Bangladesh, who have travelled to New Zealand thrice in the past four years, still could not cope with alien conditions although the weather, pitch and outfield remained the same as on previous tours. The promise of bouncy and pacey wickets also remained unchanged as did the performance from the Tigers.
Liton Das will probably want to forget his debut as Bangladesh's T20I skipper after regular captain Mahmudullah Riyad was unable to take part due to injury.
But even the stylish right-hander, who was bowled for a golden duck when he tried to improvise a shot off pacer Tim Southee towards fine leg, brought out his trump card and said they were still learning.
"We are not playing good cricket in regards to batting and fielding. That is what cost us. We play in sub-continental tracks but here we need to think about how to play teams like New Zealand on bouncy tracks. We are learning; learning about the wicket and conditions and how to play here," the 26-year-old said after the defeat yesterday.
Surprisingly, despite having so many positives from an educational tour of New Zealand, Mahmudullah expressed disappointment, saying there was hardly anything to take from a side being bowled out for 76.
"We couldn't play our best cricket throughout the series. We even arrived in New Zealand with some time on our hands and prepared accordingly. We had a good camp in Queenstown and the boys worked really hard. But that was not reflected on the field," Mahmudullah said.
Probably, performing on the field matters the most!