T20 World Cup 2021 | Lot of areas to work on, says Mahmudullah as Bangladesh bow out with fifth straight defeat
After Bangladesh lost their fifth consecutive match in the T20 World Cup 2021 on Thursday, Mahmudullah stated that his team has a lot of areas to improve, especially in batting. Australia bundled out Bangladesh for 73, before chasing down the target with eight wickets and 82 balls remaining.
After being asked to bat first, Bangladesh did not have a great start as they lost Liton Das (0), Soumya Sarkar (5), Mushfiqur Rahim (1), and Mohammad Naim (17) in the powerplay. Captain Mahmudullah (16), and Shamim Hossain (19) could not contribute much, as Bangladesh were bundled out for 73. For Australia, Adam Zampa bagged 5/19, whereas Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood scalped two wickets each.
In reply, Australia chased down the target in 6.2 overs with contributions from Aaron Finch (40), David Warner (18), and Mitchell Marsh (16*). It was Bangladesh's fifth consecutive defeat in the Super 12s stage.
Mahmudullah admitted that his team has got a lot of areas to improve, especially on the batting front.
"When you have these sort of performances, it is hard to say much,” said Mahmadullah after the match. "There are a lot of areas we have to look at, especially our batting. The wickets that we have played on have been among the best for batting. We have to figure out what went wrong when we go back to Bangladesh.
“T20 cricket you have to have a good powerplay, especially when we don't have so-called hard hitters. You need that momentum to carry forward, but we haven't done that at all."
Bangladesh had won the T20I series against Australia and New Zealand respectively on spin-friendly pitches at home in build-up to the competition. However, they couldn't quite carry their form in the UAE.
Mahmudullah reckoned that his side lacked awareness as a unit, and stated that adaptability is a must at the highest level.
“The thing is before playing in the World Cup, we had to get some wins under our belt. As professional cricketers, you have to adapt to all conditions. But we have lacked awareness as a unit, and we have to pick up on that. If you see, in the Super 12s, we came close to closing two games against Sri Lanka and West Indies. Other than that, we have been outplayed by the opposition. I hope the supporters keep supporting us."