DHAKA —The top order batsmen should come up with gutsy batting if Bangladesh wants to make a turnaround following a humiliating eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI against New Zealand, said captain Tamim Iqbal.
While the expectation was high from Bangladesh this time around, they were nowhere near to their best and were shot out for just 131 runs after being sent to bat first.
After playing an enormous time in this country, Bangladesh knew well that surviving the first 10-15 overs will be key for them to do well against the rampant hosts.
But the top order batsmen including Tamim Iqbal himself literally gave away their wicket, much to the disappointment of the fans, who had to give up their sleeps to watch the game as the match was held at the early hour of Saturday at Bangladesh Standard Time.
“I thought we have got 3/4 soft dismissals, which we didn’t expect. There was early swing, bounce and they had the pace but all those were expected in New Zealand condition,” Tamim said in a recorded video message sent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) from Dunedin today.
“We are not the team to score only 130 (131), whatever the situation is. We take pride in our batting always. If we want to do well here, we have to score at least 270-280.”
Tamim hoped that the batsmen would learn from the mistakes and also said he wants the top order batsmen to show their character in the rest of the series.
“We need to come out from this trauma. We need to find a way to score 260 runs plus. You have to give your bowlers something to defend,” he remarked.
“One of the batsmen from the top five would have to play big innings. If at least one can’t carry on, it would be difficult to score a healthy total on the board. I hope the top order batsmen will take the responsibility in the next match,” he said.
Tamim further said there is nothing to take from this first ODI in which they tasted a humiliating eight-wicket defeat.
“To be honest, there is nothing to take from this match. If you want to find out some positive thing from out here, it was the six overs spell of Mahedi Hasan. Otherwise, I don’t see any positive thing to take from this match,” a disappointed Tamim said.BSS
