Bangladesh's captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz (C) speaks with his teammates during a practice session at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Friday, on the eve of their second one-day international (ODI) cricket match against Sri Lanka. — AFP In a bid to stay alive in the three-match ODI series, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in the second game at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today (Saturday). The match starts at 3 PM, reports BSS.
Bangladesh lost the first match by 77 runs at the same venue after experiencing a sensational collapse that saw them lost seven wickets for five runs in 26 balls. The horror incident was hard to fathom for not only the fans but for also the cricketers.
"I was chilling in the dressing room with a coffee, and suddenly, five wickets down." Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin summed up how the incident caught him by surprise.
"Hopefully, we will come back stronger in the next game, and everyone will learn from the mistakes."
Chasing a modest target of 245, Bangladesh was well placed with 100-1 in 16.2 overs before the rote began. It all started with the run-out dismissal of Najmul Hossain Shanto who went for an unlikely second run.
Wanindu Hasaranga then struck twice in his first over dismissing Liton Das, giving him his eight straight single digit figure and Bangladesh's top-scorer Tanzid Hasan Tamim who made 61 ball-62.
Kamindu Mendis joined Hasaranga to further derail the visitors but the dismissal of Tanzid was something that left Bangladesh panic-stricken, said Taskin Ahmed who was key (four wickets for 47 runs) in wrapping up Sri Lanka for just 244 in an otherwise a pretty flat surface.
"After that great start, we were a bit relaxed. Everything was going our way, and suddenly, that run-out and one of our set batters, Tanzid HasanTamim, got out. Then we panicked a bit," Taskin said.
"We didn't play our natural game, and under pressure, we collapsed. Stats-wise, this is a very low-scoring ground, especially if you bat second, and there is a high chance you lose the game. Still, this game was in our hands, and we could have done a bit better," he added.
Taskin, however, stressed stressing the need for Bangladesh to improve their game awareness when they take on Sri Lankan in the second ODI for series-leveling victory.
"It's important for us to improve our game awareness. It is imperative if we want to stay alive in the series."
"These are our best 15-20 players. Maybe in bowling and batting combined, and with game awareness, we are a bit behind the top teams. We are trying to improve that with a good environment and culture."
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