Alick Athanaze credited West Indies‘ bowlers for rescuing the team after another night of unforced errors in Chattogram with the bat and in the field, as they sealed their first T20I series win in 14 months.
The opener’s fifty and 105-run stand with Shai Hope set up a strong platform, but West Indies collapsed from 106 for 1, losing 8 for 43 and leaving Bangladesh chasing a modest total. Four dropped catches made matters worse, yet the bowlers bailed West Indies out. The 150 that Bangladesh fell short of was lowest target they had ever failed to chase in Chattogram. Athanaze said West Indies’ bowlers controlled the scoring in the powerplay, which helped them build run-rate pressure on Bangladesh.
“Our bowlers showed their class again,” Athanaze said. “We bowled very well. They showed why we are one of the best T20 sides in the world.
“I felt the pitch got better. The dew has a lot of effect on the pitch. We took the total in our stride. We wanted to make a good start with the ball. We weren’t the best in the field, but the bowlers showed their class. They picked up wickets and restricted them.
“Once you control the powerplay, it gets difficult (to score) when the field is spread. We tried our best to utilise our bowlers. We know they are not big power-hitters down the ground, so we tried our best to plan for them.”
Tanzid Hasan, who also scored a fifty, felt Bangladesh should have chased down their target. He said the batters would themselves have to find a way out of the run-scoring struggle that they’ve now endured for a considerable length of time.
“I thought regardless of the wicket, we should have chased 150,” Tanzid said. “It was the batters’ failure. We couldn’t take responsibility. I think it was a bad day for the batters. I think we have to find a way to minimise playing dot balls. We haven’t achieved consistency of late. The batting is not clicking. We have to find ways to rotate strike and play bigger knocks. The batters have to find a way out of this.”
Many of Bangladesh’s batters in this game looked to be caught in two minds. Jaker Ali‘s return to the side was riddled with questions given his form. He made 17 off 18 balls at a stage when the asking run-rate was rapidly rising. Tanzid said he tried to remind Jaker about his Player-of-the-Match performance in the third T20I in Kingstown last year.
“Jaker bhai helped us win in the West Indies,” Tanzid said. “I told him that he had won us a game against West Indies, so he can do it again. I told him that if we stuck together as a pair, we could have won the game. I think I had the bigger responsibility, but I couldn’t perform up to expectations.
“We have a world-class bowling department. They usually restrict the opposition on any wicket. The batters must follow how the bowlers have helped the team and taken the team forward. Responsibility is for everyone in the team. We have to do well as a batting unit.”
Athanaze also praised the Bangladesh bowling attack and fielding.
“You have to give credit to the Bangladeshi bowlers,” he said. “A lot of emphasis is on us not batting well but I felt they bowled really well. They spun the ball and bowled slower. In his first and second spells, Rishad Hossain understood how to bowl on this wicket. It also gave us the indication how to bowl as well. They bowled very well in the back end. They caught very well too.”
The final T20I of the series is in Chattogram on Friday.
ESPNCricinfo
