NZ vs BAN | Too many soft dismissals cost Bangladesh, laments Tamim Iqbal

03/20/2021

Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal lamented multiple batsmen from his side perishing ‘softly’ in the first ODI and admitted that the Bangladeshi batsmen were to blame for their own downfall. After being skittled out for a modest 131, Bangladesh saw the Kiwis knock-off the target in just 21 overs.

What started as an opportunity to spring a surprise turned into an afternoon of embarrassment for Bangladesh in no time as the Tigers, on Saturday, lost their 14th consecutive ODI on New Zealand soil to the Kiwis. After being inserted into bat in Dunedin, a six from skipper Tamim Iqbal on just the third ball of the match provided a glimmer of hope that the visitors might finally register a victory versus the Kiwis away from home, but the bubble was burst in no time.

After Tamim perished in the 5th over, courtesy of Trent Boult, a huge batting collapse ensued as the visitors were rolled over for a paltry 131. On a wicket that was pretty good for batting, no Bangladesh batsmen managed to pass 30 as the Tigers ended up losing the game in just over 60 overs to go 1-0 down in the series.

Reflecting on the dreary batting performance, Tamim said in the post match presentation that Bangladesh were the architects of their own downfall.

“I thought there were too many soft dismissals. No doubt they bowled really well, but we have ourselves to blame. We take pride in our batting and that was nowhere near enough,” Tamim said in the post match presentation.

The first ODI was Bangladesh’s first away game since Cricket restarted post the pandemic, but Tamim refused to pin the blame on lack of preparation. The Bangladesh skipper insisted that his side had enough preparation time and hoped for the Tigers to put up a better showing in the 2nd ODI.

“We had a couple of days here, I cannot complain about our preparation. It's not new to us, we know what to expect. And we hope we put up a better performance,” the 32-year-old said.

The only silver lining for the Tigers in the first ODI turned out to be the performance of debutant Mahedi Hasan who, after smacking Mitchell Santner for a humongous six off his second ball, bowled his heart out and conceded just 17 off 6 overs in a desperate attempt to hurt the Kiwi batsmen. Tamim was full of praise for the youngster, who he said showed great character.

“ especially the first shot was nice, I would have loved for him to continue. He bowled well today, he showed character.”

The second of the three ODIs will be played in Christchurch on Tuesday, March 23.