Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza said bad luck was responsible for his side’s defeat against Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 International at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Wednesday. Bangladesh missed an opportunity to secure a thrilling victory against the highest-ranked Twenty20 side, losing by two runs in a match that went down the last delivery.
‘It’s bad luck,’ Mashrafee told reporters after the game.
‘Anything can happen in the last ball.’
‘We are very disappointed to lose such a game to the number one ranked team in the world. Everyone is upset, but we will take good points out of this game.’
‘We were equal with Sri Lanka and that one ball in the end made the difference. Anamul was hitting it well by that time, as we had seen in the previous two balls when he hit two very good shots over cover.’
‘The last ball was unfortunate; the timing wasn’t there. It could have taken a top edge and gone behind the keeper but he hit it with the face of the bat.’
Bangladesh required 17 runs from the last over and needed only three runs from the last ball when Sri Lanka snatched victory by removing Anamul Haque, who reached his maiden Twenty20 half-century in the match.
Masharfee added that whenever there was a chance to accelerate, the Tigers lost a wicket that slowed their flow of runs, which he believed was also crucial in determining the outcome of the game.
Bangladesh were looking comfortable at 107-2 after 13.2 overs before Sakib al Hasan (26) departed, and they again looked poised to snatch a victory before Nasir Hossain (16) was dismissed.
‘Sakib and Nasir’s dismissals made a lot of difference because we could not accelerate when it was probably the right time at that stage,’ said Mashrafee.
‘Nasir’s dismissal was just bad timing for us. It showed how things can go the other way,’ he said, adding that he had opted to field because his side ‘are always comfortable chasing a total’.
Despite the loss, Mashrafee praised the team for putting on a superb fielding performance, grabbing five catches that helped boost the morale of the team.
‘We were always a good fielding side, and today we had some really good ones out there. We took some great catches, and those have more of an effect in Twenty20s than Tests or ODIs. We dropped a few catches in the Test series, so it was a good way to bounce back,’ said Mashrafee.
‘I would still say we played well.’
‘Sunny [Arafat] bowled well, and Mithun probably had to play that shot. It was a good mix for us but to win T20 games, there has to be two bowlers and three batsmen doing the job, or three bowlers and two batsmen. We can still take a lot from the match.’
Mashrafee also credited Anamul Haque for making a comeback after being dropped from the Test squad.
‘Credit to Bijoy [Anamul] for bouncing back so well after missing out on the Test matches. He took the side close to victory,’ added Masharfee, who captained the Tigers for the first time since his stint in 2010, which ended when an ankle injury prevented him from carrying on in the ODI series against the New Zealanders.
-With New Age input
