Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (R) and teammate Mohammad Naim run between the wickets during the ICC men's Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between Oman and Bangladesh at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Muscat on Tuesday (photo:AFP)
Ali Shahriyar Amin from Muscat
Publish : 20 Oct 2021, 10:36 PMUpdate : 20 Dec 2021, 05:11 PM
Bangladesh’s top-order struggled in the powerplay overs once again as they scored just 29 runs losing two wickets against hosts Oman at Amerat Stadium Tuesday.
Although Bangladesh managed to score 153 losing all of their wickets in 20 overs, openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim, promoted No 3 batsman Mahedi Hasan and No 4 Shakib al Hasan were unable to capitalize the powerplay.
The Tigers' run rate was under six and they also lost two wickets in the first six overs.
Among the 36 balls bowled by Oman in the powerplay, Bangladesh managed to score only two boundaries and one six.
And among those two fours, one was an outside edge from Shakib.
In the first game against Scotland, which Bangladesh lost by six runs, the top-order also struggled as they managed to score only 25 for the loss of two wickets.
Let's consider the other matches in this qualifiers at the same venue:
In the first game, Papua New Guinea scored 40 for 2 and Oman posted 46 without loss.
In the second match, Scotland scored 29 losing one wicket and Bangladesh posted 25 for the loss of two wickets.
In the third game, Scotland scored 27 for 2 while PNG posted 35 losing five wickets.
And in the fourth match on Tuesday, Bangladesh managed to score 29 for 2 while Oman scored 47 runs losing two wickets in the powerplay.
Considering all this, Bangladesh fell at least 12-15 runs short of the par score.
Opening partnership has been a problem for Bangladesh for the last few months and it continued in this match as well.
Bangladesh tried a new opening pair compared to the first match as Soumya Sarkar was dropped and replaced by Naim.
But a good and solid opening start still eluded the Tigers as Liton and Naim struggled to find the gaps in the first few overs.
Liton’s horrible form with the bat continued as he scored six off seven deliveries.
Liton managed to get a life in the fourth ball of the third over as he skied a top edge towards deep fine leg but the fielder was unable to hold onto it.
But Liton could not capitalize on this chance as he was trapped leg before wicket in the very next ball from an in-swinging yorker by Bilal Khan.
Naim struck a four and a six in the third and fourth ball of the fourth over, otherwise the total could have been much less after the powerplay.
Bangladesh eventually managed to hold their nerve and clinch a hard-fought 26 run win but lack of runs in the powerplay is a big concern for the Tigers.
Player of the match Shakib al Hasan also admitted that Bangladesh top-order batsmen need to find a way to score a few more runs in the powerplay.
“Batting in the powerplay is obviously a matter of concern for us. We have scored 153 runs (Tuesday). But there are a few areas we can improve. There is a chance to score 20-25 runs more. If we can score 15 runs more in the powerplay and add 10 more in the slog overs, then we can add 25 extra to our total score. I think we need to improve in these two areas in our batting,” Shakib said during the post-match press conference.
“And those improvements will help us to score 170+ which is a good total in T20Is. And with those many runs in the scorecard, we can battle to defend this total with our bowling attack against any team in the world.
"So we need this improvement, I believe everyone is working on this and will try to achieve these to achieve victories in the coming matches,” he added.
Bangladesh will play their last match in the qualifiers Thursday against Papua New Guinea and a win with a good run rate will ensure that the Tigers would go through to the super 12 stage.
Top order’s struggle in powerplay continues
Bangladesh’s top-order struggled in the powerplay overs once again as they scored just 29 runs losing two wickets against hosts Oman at Amerat Stadium Tuesday.
Although Bangladesh managed to score 153 losing all of their wickets in 20 overs, openers Liton Das and Mohammad Naim, promoted No 3 batsman Mahedi Hasan and No 4 Shakib al Hasan were unable to capitalize the powerplay.
The Tigers' run rate was under six and they also lost two wickets in the first six overs.
Among the 36 balls bowled by Oman in the powerplay, Bangladesh managed to score only two boundaries and one six.
And among those two fours, one was an outside edge from Shakib.
In the first game against Scotland, which Bangladesh lost by six runs, the top-order also struggled as they managed to score only 25 for the loss of two wickets.
Let's consider the other matches in this qualifiers at the same venue:
In the first game, Papua New Guinea scored 40 for 2 and Oman posted 46 without loss.
In the second match, Scotland scored 29 losing one wicket and Bangladesh posted 25 for the loss of two wickets.
In the third game, Scotland scored 27 for 2 while PNG posted 35 losing five wickets.
And in the fourth match on Tuesday, Bangladesh managed to score 29 for 2 while Oman scored 47 runs losing two wickets in the powerplay.
Considering all this, Bangladesh fell at least 12-15 runs short of the par score.
Opening partnership has been a problem for Bangladesh for the last few months and it continued in this match as well.
Bangladesh tried a new opening pair compared to the first match as Soumya Sarkar was dropped and replaced by Naim.
But a good and solid opening start still eluded the Tigers as Liton and Naim struggled to find the gaps in the first few overs.
Liton’s horrible form with the bat continued as he scored six off seven deliveries.
Liton managed to get a life in the fourth ball of the third over as he skied a top edge towards deep fine leg but the fielder was unable to hold onto it.
But Liton could not capitalize on this chance as he was trapped leg before wicket in the very next ball from an in-swinging yorker by Bilal Khan.
Naim struck a four and a six in the third and fourth ball of the fourth over, otherwise the total could have been much less after the powerplay.
Bangladesh eventually managed to hold their nerve and clinch a hard-fought 26 run win but lack of runs in the powerplay is a big concern for the Tigers.
Player of the match Shakib al Hasan also admitted that Bangladesh top-order batsmen need to find a way to score a few more runs in the powerplay.
“Batting in the powerplay is obviously a matter of concern for us. We have scored 153 runs (Tuesday). But there are a few areas we can improve. There is a chance to score 20-25 runs more. If we can score 15 runs more in the powerplay and add 10 more in the slog overs, then we can add 25 extra to our total score. I think we need to improve in these two areas in our batting,” Shakib said during the post-match press conference.
“And those improvements will help us to score 170+ which is a good total in T20Is. And with those many runs in the scorecard, we can battle to defend this total with our bowling attack against any team in the world.
"So we need this improvement, I believe everyone is working on this and will try to achieve these to achieve victories in the coming matches,” he added.
Bangladesh will play their last match in the qualifiers Thursday against Papua New Guinea and a win with a good run rate will ensure that the Tigers would go through to the super 12 stage.
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