Skipper Liton Das blamed the dew after Bangladesh suffered a crushing seven-wicket defeat to UAE in the third and final T20I to lose the series 2-1 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Bangladesh, who were 84-8 at one point, managed 162 runs in 20 overs, thanks to the lower-order heroics to give themselves a chance on a slow wicket.听
But Alishan Sharafu and Asif Khan stood tall for the hosts to clinch only their second series win over a full member nation. Alishan scored 68* off 47, while Asif remained unbeaten on 41 off 26 balls.听
This was Bangladesh鈥檚 second series (minimum two games) defeat to an associate nation after losing to the USA last year.听
鈥楧efinitely it鈥檚 not up to the mark. When you came here, you thought of winning. But it鈥檚 part of life. In cricket, sometimes the opposition plays really well. So you have got to give credit to them,鈥� said Liton after the match.听
Liton, who was appointed captain of the format before the series, said that they made mistakes while batting but also pointed out the impact of the dew factor during the latter part of the match.
鈥楽till, we made a couple of mistakes while batting on this surface. But it was not up to the mark according to the condition. And definitely we bowled in the second innings in all three matches. So dew was the main factor of what I felt,鈥� said Liton.
However, the batters except Jaker Ali failed miserably on Wednesday night after playing two matches in the same condition.听
Meanwhile, the UAE, after missing a chance in the first match, came back strongly in the next two matches to clinch the series.听
First, they bowled according to conditions and then kept their composure while chasing despite facing early blows.听
Liton gave credit to their bowling counterparts but claimed that dew helped the opposition batters.听
鈥楾hey played really well. Today in the first half of the innings they bowled well; that鈥檚 why we couldn鈥檛 score that many runs. But in the batting, they got the favour of dew. But credit must be given as they didn鈥檛 panic in the middle,鈥� said Liton.听
The series against the UAE鈥攚hich was primarily two matches and then extended to a third match鈥攚as supposed to be a good preparation for the Tigers prior to the Pakistan series. This also marked the beginning of a long trail of T20s ahead of them.
But now after the series loss, it posed a reality check to the capabilities of the team in the format.听
There were glimpses that the top order could go big, but overall the batters missed the chance to put the opposition out of contention.听
The bowlers failed to rise to the occasion, while fielding wasn鈥檛 professional at all.听
Liton, however, tried to find some positives. But he also said that there was a long way ahead.
听鈥楾he way Parvez Emon and Tanzid Tamim played, as well as Jaker Ali. But still we have to learn more and execute well in the match,鈥� he said.
Bangladesh will now travel to Pakistan for a three-match T20I series starting on May 28.
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