Khulna Titans head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes his side are just one win away from getting momentum they need and aims the team will bounce back in the next match.
Khulna were defeated against Rajshahi Kings by seven wickets yesterday and it was their third successive loss in as many matches in the tournament so far.
The coach admitted batting was not up to the mark in the third match.
“In last two matches, the batting has let us down. Today was an example that the batsman needed to bat there sensibly. Mehedi (Miraz) showed how you need to bat in this kind of wicket. We were thinking 140 is a good score in that wicket. But no one took the responsibility to do that. We had wickets in hand and we had the batting to do that but could not in the end,” coach Jayawardene said to media during the post match press conference at Mirpur.
“We have to start winning. And one win will give us a bit more confidence. And then we will move to Sylhet, a new venue. There are still nine matches left in the tournament. We are targeting the top four spot and then in to the play-offs. Anything can happen. For us, every game is crucial and we need to treat it that way,” Jayawardene explained.
Khulna’s poor show continues https://t.co/rpv5WIXw8D#KhulnaTitans’ woes continued in the #BPL as they lost their third match of the tournament in as many games against #RajshahiKings by seven wickets at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla national stadium.
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) January 9, 2019
“Tactically we need to assess the conditions better and play according to that. It’s just three games we have played so far. I am not too concerned. But there are certainly few areas we need to perform better,” he added.
Khulna is dealing with some injury problems as US pacer Ali Khan and West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite could not play Wednesday’s match due to injury. The coach believes they need to manage these things and other players are capable of turning around their fate.
“It’s a new team. We thought the combination we started with was good. Then Ali Khan injured his hamstring in the last match and he is ruled out of the tournament. Lasith Malinga and Yasir Shah will join us soon. They are key players for us. We want to form a combination that goes well with our local players as well. Carlos (Brathwaite) pulled out with injury after first match. We were scared that he could be ruled out from the tournament as well. So we wanted to give him a couple of games off. It’s not the ideal situation, but we have to manage these players. I am not giving any excuses. Anyone playing for us is capable of doing the job. So far we have not been up to the mark. We need to improve our performances,” Mahela said.
8th Match, KTvRK
Khulna Titans
BATSMEN R B
PR Stirling c Mominul Haque b Mustafizur Rahman 16 14
Junaid Siddique c Fazle Mahmud b Udana 23 18
Jahurul Islam † c Udana b Arafat Sunny 1 6
Mahmudullah (c) lbw b Mustafizur Rahman 11 18
DJ Malan c Evans b Soumya Sarkar 22 18
Ariful Haque c Evans b Qais Ahmad 12 16
D Wiese b Udana 14 14
Taijul Islam not out 8 10
Shoriful Islam run out (Udana) 1 4
Subashis Roy b Udana 0 2
Fall of wickets: 1-40 (PR Stirling, 4.5 ov), 2-40 (Junaid Siddique, 5.3 ov), 3-44 (Jahurul Islam, 7.4 ov), 4-64 (Mahmudullah, 10.3 ov), 5-92 (Ariful Haque, 14.3 ov), 6-101 (DJ Malan, 16.1 ov), 7-114 (D Wiese, 17.6 ov), 8-117 (Shoriful Islam, 19.4 ov), 9-117 (Subashis Roy, 19.6 ov)
Extras 9 (b 1, lb 2, w 6)
TOTAL 117/9 (20 Overs, RR: 5.85)
Bowling
Arafat Sunny 3-0-19-1, Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-13-0, Udana 4-1-15-3, Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-18-2, Qais Ahmad 4-0-24-1, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3-0-19-0, Soumya Sarkar 1-0-6-1
Rajshahi Kings R B
Mohammad Hafeez c Ariful Haque b Taijul Islam 6 5
Mominul Haque c Shoriful Islam b Stirling 44 43
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (c) b Zahir Khan 51 45
Soumya Sarkar not out 11 17
LJ Evans not out 1 3
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.2 ov), 2-100 (Mominul Haque, 14.2 ov), 3-109 (Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 17.1 ov)
Extras 5 (w 5)
TOTAL 118/3 (18.5 Overs, RR: 6.26)
Bowling
Shoriful Islam 1-0-11-0, Taijul Islam 3-0-22-1, Subashis Roy 2-0-13-0, D Wiese 3.5-0-28-0, Zahir Khan 4-0-18-1, Mahmudullah 2-0-11-0, DJ Malan 1-0-6-0, PR Stirling 2-0-9-1
Kings won by 7 wickets
MoM: Isuru Udana (RK)
