Litton rues batting frailties; Kelly happy with outcome

Bangladesh T20I skipper Litton Das on Saturday admitted that they lacked the batting resources to push for a big total in the series-deciding third and final T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Asked to bat first, Bangladesh lost three early wickets -- Saif Hassan (16 off 11), Tanzid Tamim (6 off 10) and Parvez Hossain Emon (0 off 1) -- inside the Powerplay, slipping to 35 for three after 4.4 overs.

Rain then interrupted play at 2:36pm when the hosts were at 50 for three in 6.4 overs. After a lengthy delay, the match resumed at 4:30pm following an inspection, reducing it to a 15-over contest per side.

However, the break did little to change Bangladesh’s fortunes. They lost Litton (26 off 17) in the ninth over, and a dramatic collapse followed as Shamim Hossain (3 off 8), Tawhid Hridoy (33 off 24), and Mohammad Saifuddin (0 off 1) fell within the space of six deliveries, reducing the hosts from 86 for four to 89 for seven.

Rishad Hossain was run out for five, and the rest of the batting line-up folded quickly as Bangladesh lost their last six wickets for just 16 runs in 17 balls to be bowled out for a low 102-run total.

The total was never a challenging one, and despite Shoriful Islam’s early three wickets, New Zealand reached the target with ease. Bevon Jacobs struck an unbeaten 62 off 31 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes, to help his side level the series 1-1.

“Look, there were two different scenarios. Scenarios aren’t in anyone’s hands -- weather isn’t something you can control. When we went out to bat first, the wicket behaved one way, and after losing three wickets early, we were already on the back foot. From there, we needed a partnership, but then the game went into a break again,” Litton tried to explain the challenges they were faced with due to the rain break.

“So in a 15-over game, you end up batting in two different conditions. You know your team’s strength is having six batters, so even if you want, you can’t really go for a very big total. On the other hand, if you look at the opposition, they know they have a small target and that they’ll get to play the full 15 overs without any break. And I hope you understand that when the ball gets wet, batting becomes much easier.

“So it was very difficult to defend the total we put up. In the middle overs, you need dot balls and wickets, and when the pitch is good, those things don’t come easily,” he added.

With a small total on the board, Litton mentioned the thought process behind using all three of Shoriful’s overs early in the innings.

“Look, the total wasn’t really big, and the wicket was very good. I felt that if we could pick up two more wickets at that point -- because Shoriful was bowling really well -- then they could have been put under pressure.

“In this kind of game, you can’t win by keeping wickets in hand -- you have to go for it. We didn’t give our bowlers enough runs on the board to create pressure through dot balls. The run rate never really went above six, so wickets were extremely important.

“Cricket is all about taking risks. We took our chances, but it didn’t work out -- there’s not much you can do about it,” he said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s stand-in skipper Nick Kelly was pleased with the outcome of the series.

“We've had a lot of top players not here, they are in the IPL [Indian Premier League] or the PSL [Pakistan Super League]. So it gave a lot of fringe players an opportunity. I think the best part about touring overseas is learning quickly about different conditions, and I think we did that throughout the one-day series.

“I know we lost the [ODI] series, but there were some great performances from everyone across the board and we learned a lot. In the T20s, we only played two games, but for a large part of that first game, I thought we were well on top, and then Bangladesh did a really great job to win it.

“To finish the series here, especially with the way we bowled, it felt like a unit that had been here for three weeks -- we’d learned a lot and put it out on the park today, which was very nice,” he added.

Bangladesh had earlier taken a 1-0 lead in the series, winning the opening match by six wickets, while the second game in Chattogram was abandoned due to rain.