Bangladesh stand-in T20I captain Mahmudullah said giving away too many runs in the death overs of India's innings gave the opposition the edge which later sealed a 17-run win. The Tigers after sending India in to bat first had started well with the ball. The Indian openers were denied a flying start in the powerplay and were kept in their shells for the most part. However, in the last four overs of the innings, the Tigers bowlers gave away 59 runs to see India post 176 losing three wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Left-arm pacer Abu Haider, who came into the XI replacing right-arm paceman Taskin Ahmed, conceded 21 runs in the 18th over while left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman gave away 25 runs in his last two overs - the 17th and 19th respectively.
"I think we started well with the ball but gave away too many runs in the last few overs. If we had conceded 10 runs fewer, it would have helped us. With the bat, Mushfiqur [Rahim] made 72 out of 160-odd. If another top-order batsman could have contributed around 25, things may have been different for us," said Mahmudullah to the media at R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo Wednesday.
Bangladesh chasing the 177-run target lost wickets at regular intervals. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiq scored the highest - making his second consecutive unbeaten half-century and joint career best tally - 72 off 55 balls with eight boundaries and a six. Mushfiq however, received very little support at the other end.
"I personally felt that we should have chased down that score. Tamim [Iqbal] gave us a good start but on the other hand, nobody stepped up. We should have had another innings of 25-odd, which would have made the difference, as we had another batsman scoring 72," said Mahmudullah.
India's 18-year old spinner Washington Sundar, playing just his fourth T20I, made early inroads removing the top three batters in each of his first three overs.
"Sundar showed his potential. He bowled really well. He varied his pace and bowled according to the batsman. He didn't let the batsmen get away. If we could have applied better against him, it would have been a different game for us," Mahmudullah said.
