"We were not up to mark with the ball or bat": Litton Das after Bangladesh lose to Afghanistan
Jul 08, 2023
Chattogram [Bangladesh], July 8 : Bangladesh interim skipper Litton Das did not hold himself back from pointing out the areas where his team was lacking as they lost the ODI series against Afghanistan on Saturday.
Bangladesh leaked runs throughout the first innings and they failed to break the 25-run stand between the Afghanistan opening pair of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Das pointed out how the hosts failed to put up an effort in all aspects of the game. They lacked sharpness while bowling, they had the opportunity to put more efforts while fielding and finally they failed to compensate for it with their bat as well.
"When you win the toss and you bowl first, our bowlers didn't do the job. We were not up to the mark in the field, with the ball and the bat too. The way Gurbaz and Ibrahim batted, outstanding. Credit goes to them. After they got out, scenario was changed. Different ball game. Bowlers bowled well in the end. If you bat, as an opener, 20-25 overs, it is not difficult but you have to control yourself to not give wickets in powerplay because they have good quality bowlers," Das said in the post-match presentation as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
While Bangladesh will look to regroup ahead of the final ODI game, Afghanistan will look to build up on the winning momentum as they achieved a remarkable feat by clinching the ODI series.
With this victory, Afghanistan became the second side to win the ODI series in Bangladesh in the last eight years after England.
Afghanistan completed their first bilateral ODI series victory against Bangladesh by dominating the home team in the second match in Chattogram with a 142-run victory. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 145 while Ibrahim Zadran savoured a century as they combined for a record-breaking opening stand of 256 runs.
Zadran and Gurbaz put on the highest partnership for Afghanistan in the format during the second ODI. With a clinical all-round show from the team, Afghanistan sealed the series 2-0 with a game in hand.
