Stand-in Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto lamented a woeful middle-overs batting performance after a seven-wicket defeat to India in the ODI World Cup at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday.
Opting to bat on a belter, Shanto’s side was aided by its best-ever opening stand at the World Cup – an 88-ball association for 93 runs between Litton Das and young opener Tanzid Hasan. Despite losing the services of Hardik Pandya to injury, India quickly clawed back by dismantling the Bangladesh top four within the next 13 overs. The Tigers eventually finished on 256 for eight after a brief support from the lower-order.
Number three Shanto, trapped leg-before on eight by Ravindra Jadeja, also said he expected at least one of the openers to convert their half-centuries into a big score and prevent a slowdown after the first PowerPlay.
“I think we could not bat well in the middle overs. It would have been a different ball game if the openers batted a bit longer. A couple of wickets were soft dismissals. The wicket was good, but the batters failed to take responsibility,” he said after stepping up as captain in place of an injured Shakib Al Hasan.
Shanto clarified that a wide delivery attempted by Bangladesh with India number three Virat Kohli stranded in the nineties was “unintentional”. Kohli eventually claimed the match and his 48th ODI century with a six against left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed in the 42nd over.
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