Bangladesh U-19 skipper blames himself for defeat

Dhaka, February 12 । Bangladesh U-19 cricket captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz has regretted he was not able to carry the bat through as his team collapsed in a heap in their semi-final clash against the West Indies.

Miraz believes Bangladesh would have made 250 runs if he had stayed in the middle, reports a news website.

The hosts were bowled out for 226 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Thursday. The Caribbeans reached the target with three wickets and eight balls to spare.

Miraz scored 60 to help Bangladesh to recover from some early setback, pairing in an 85-run stand with Mohammad Shaifuddin, who made 36.

The colts were set to launch a late onslaught on 196 for 5 in 45 overs when Miraz and Shaifuddin went back in successive balls.

Miraz tried to slog a short ball but ended up slicing it to mid-off. Shaifuddin lost his offstump in the next delivery.

"If I could finish the innings, we would have made 250. Shaifuddin got out in the next ball after my dismissal. That pegged us back," Miraz told reporters later.

"We had five overs left with five wickets in hand. We had to take risks. A couple of fours and sixes would have helped us play our natural game."

Bangladesh lost five wickets for 30 runs in the last five overs.

In the quarter-final against Nepal, Bangladesh were in a tight spot chasing a modest 212. Miraz insisted the decision to bat first was to avoid the pressure of a run chase.

He said scoring 20 more runs might have changed the outcome of the game.

"The wicket was a bit slow. It is better to bat first here… you can't always play well under pressure. We did not do well under pressure today either.

"We thought it would be difficult for any team to beat us if we score 240-250 batting first. But we were 20 runs short."

Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka for the third place at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah on Saturday.

Agency