Bangladesh’s unbeaten streak in home One-Day International (ODI) series of seven years ended on Friday after getting thrashed by 132 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series against England in Dhaka, reports news agency UNB.
The Tigers ODI captain Tamim Iqbal admitted his team’s performance was below par in both bowling and batting, which led to the eventual loss at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
Sent to bat, England posted a daunting 326-7 on a tricky Mirpur surface. The tourists were bolstered by opener Jason Roy’s scintillating century and captain Jos Buttler’s handy fifty.
The Bangladesh bowlers kept the English batters quiet in the early overs but couldn’t take many wickets. As time wore on, England innings gained momentum and the visitors finished on a high.
In reply, Bangladesh got off to a horrific start, losing Liton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto to Sam Curran for golden ducks in the first over.
Curran took his third wicket in his second over, removing Mushfiqur Rahim, to reduce Bangladesh to 9-3.
The hosts never recovered from the early stutter and were eventually bundled out for 194 in 44.4 overs.
“There were many reasons behind this defeat,” Tamim said in the post-match press conference. “We failed to bowl well in the first few overs after opting to bowl first. We got a chance of running out Jos, but we could not do that. We were not up to the mark today (Friday).”
Tamim also said that Bangladesh had a great chance to restrict England to somewhere around 260-270 but they kept letting England off the hook with poor fielding and eventually paid the price, “We didn’t miss many catches, but we leaked runs,” Tamim expressed his disappointment about sloppy fielding.
The defeat ended Bangladesh’s seven-year unbeaten run in the home ODI series. Ironically, their last ODI series defeat at home was also against England back in 2016.
The third and final ODI will be played on 6 March in Chattogram, where Bangladesh will play for pride.
After the ODI series, the teams will lock horns in a three-match Twenty20 series.