Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi admitted that his team had lost the first game in the World Twenty20 against Bangladesh on Sunday after paceman Mashrafee bin Murtaza claimed a wicket off the very first ball to seize the momentum for the home side. Mashrafee brought the crowd to their feet before they had properly taken their seats as Mohammad Shehzad heaved a catch to mid-on. Mahmudullah ran few yards to grab the catch and the Afghans were on the back foot immediately.
‘This is a bad shot of Shehzad, hit the first ball through the wicket. The pressure came on our side,’ Nabi said after the match.
The Afghan captain was supremely confident coming into this game, but Bangladesh showed they are yet to reach to the level where they can fight neck-and-neck regularly against the Test sides.
Nabi, however, insisted that overconfidence had nothing to do with the result and that Bangladesh played a good game.
‘We didn’t have any overconfidence,’ he said. ‘It’s a part of game. Today Bangladesh played very well, that’s why they won the game.
‘Otherwise we are not a team to lose like this. The condition, the pitch was a little too difficult as well,’ he said.
The weakness of Afghanistan against spin bowling was evident in almost every game in the Asia Cup, and Bangladesh exploited it brilliantly towards their cause. The pitch, which turned more than had been expected, also helped the Tigers.
Sakib al Hasan finished with 3-14, while Abdur Razzak shrugged off his poor form to get two crucial wickets at
the cost of just 20 runs. Mahmudullah did not lag too far behind, conceding just eight runs in his four overs for a wicket.
Nabi admitted Afghanistan needed to improve their performance against spin bowling if they were to stand any kind of chance in the competition.
‘From Asia Cup we have been struggling against quality spinners,’ said Nabi. ‘Inshallah we will try to improve against them.
‘The conditions of Asians, especially in Bangladesh, are spinning tracks. We will try our best to be stronger in the next two games.’
Afghanistan now must beat Nepal and Hong Kong in their two remaining matches and wait for Bangladesh to slip up against either side to give them an unexpected chance to qualify for the Super 10 phase.
Although his body language suggested that Nabi had accepted the reality of the situation, the Afghan all-rounder refused to rule out the prospect of qualifying completely.
‘We will try our best to win both games with good average. It’s cricket; nothing can be said. If Bangladesh lose one game, we might come back,’ Nabi said in a muted voice.
-With New Age input
