Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz rued the lack of big partnerships after losing to Afghanistan in the first of the three-match ODI series by five wickets at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
Opting to bat first, the Tigers were restricted to 221 in 48.5 overs. In reply, Afghanistan reached 226-5 with 17 balls to spare.
For Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai took 3-40 and then made 40 to give his team a 1-0 lead in the series.
Bangladesh became 25-2 inside the sixth over when Omarzai had both Tanzid Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Saif Hasan, on his ODI debut, carried his T20I form into the 50-over format as he struck five boundaries in his 26 off 33-ball knock. But a string of four dots brought his downfall as he was caught by Rashid Khan off Nangeyalia Kharote.
鈥榃e always lose [too] many wickets in the first 15 overs. It鈥檚 been difficult to bat on this wicket. The wicket was turning a little bit, and we were struggling in that period,鈥� Mehidy said after the match.聽
However, Mehidy and Towhid Hridoy recovered well to lay a base for a strong finish with a partnership of 101 runs off 142 deliveries.
However, a mix-up with his captain led to Towhid鈥檚 run-out, shaking Bangladesh鈥檚 confidence.
Mehidy, though, praised Towhid for his effort.
鈥楾he way Tawhid Hridoy played was really good. When the crunch moment came, the batters played calm and cool cricket, and sometimes with a positive intent,鈥� he said.
But when Mehidy was dismissed after making 56 runs in the final spell of Rashid Khan, a familiar collapse followed. Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan both embraced the same fate as Mehidy.
Mehidy rued the lack of having big partnerships as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for just 46 runs.
鈥楤ut in the end, we are not getting partnerships, and that鈥檚 the problem,鈥� said Mehidy.聽
Afghanistan, on the other hand, lost wickets in clusters on multiple occasions. But they got the partnerships to regain control. While Bangladesh managed a hundred-run partnership, Afghanistan got three fifty-run partnerships.
鈥業 mentioned that if we could get 260 plus, it would definitely be better, because we are a good bowling side, and we are not giving away many runs,鈥� Mehidy said.
The Bangladesh captain also hoped to bounce back in the second match, scheduled on October 11 at the same venue.
He said, 鈥榃e had a chance. Now we have an opportunity to get better because we know we made some mistakes in this match, and we need to learn from these matches as soon as possible.鈥�
鈥業 am confident that our boys will do well in the next match,鈥� he added.
