The pull-shot that Imrul Kayes played off Ravi Rampaul can best describe Bangladesh’s approach in Friday’s second one-day international against West Indies in Grenada.
Kayes was struggling to connect to the ball and had to rely on a risky slog to get off the mark after replacing Anamul Haque at the crease. After being unable to reach the ball he began to free his arm and swing the bat, inevitably brining his downfall by an unnecessary shot.
With the injudicious shot, Bangladesh, who had just lost their only in-form batsman Anamul, were 2-27 and could not really recover from the damage.
They were eventually all out for 70 runs, their second lowest ODI score, which resulted in a 177-run defeat and cost Bangladesh the series with West Indies taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.
The defeat was frustrating given the Bangladeshi bowlers had restricted West Indies to a reasonable score of 247-7, but the batsmen spoiled their good work as they blew it away by trying to use power instead of their brain.
The way the Tigers approached the game during their chase only exposed their lack of common sense to reach the target even though they had the chance to see how the West Indians batsmen approached in a wicket where ball was coming slow.
Instead of picking up runs through grafting shots and focussing on building partnerships, the tourists went for wild shots from the very beginning and eventually paid the price by earning their 12th successive defeat so far in 2014.
West Indies also possessed a few batsmen who can play with power but hardly did they opt to choose that route despite playing in their own condition. Instead of using their power, they waited for short balls to punish.
Unlike the Bangladeshi batsmen they concentrated on staying at the wicket after any partnership was broken and decided to rebuild their innings through ones and twos.
West Indies could score only one boundary from the 25th to 39th overs despite having Lendl Simmons, the highest scorer in the just concluded Caribbean Premier League, and a solid batsman Denesh Ramdin at the crease.
Simmons curbed his attacking instinct and went for developing his innings while the Bangladeshi batsmen had gone to play shots over the park without taking any lesson from the crafty right-hander.
It only indicated that they either misread the wicket or were careless which resulted in yet another humiliation in the shape of their seventh biggest defeat in terms of run.
Naturally skipper Mushfiqur Rahim did not need to think for a second to shift the blame on his batsmen for the latest debacle.
‘Obviously it is really disappointing (third lowest score in ODI history),’ Mushfiq said at the post-match presentation ceremony. ‘We lost a couple of early wickets, but the most disappointing part was no-one was willing to stay on and fight.
‘I think our bowlers did a good job, but our batting has to improve.’
The third match of the dead rubber will be held at St Kitts on August 25.
-With New Age input
