Jaded Tigers, efficient Proteas

Three matches against South Africa so far. Two T20Is. One ODI. Three crushing defeats, three demoralizing results for Bangladesh cricket team.

Tigers lost the first T20I by 52 runs, second T20I by 31 runs and the opening game of the 3-match series by 8 wickets.

In the first ODI against South Africa, Bangladesh were bowled out for 160 batting first. It was the first time since December 2011 that Tigers were all out for a score below 200 when putting up a total on the board.

The abject batting display was the icing on the cake as far as the overall performance is concerned. On a tailor-made Mirpur-pitch meant to aid spinners, Bangladeshi slow-bowlers failed to exploit the home conditions by bowling flat and fast.

South Africa’s pacer, 20-year-old Kagiso Rabada achieved the best bowling figures on debut when he picked up six wickets for 16 runs in eight overs in the first ODI on July 10.

No prodigious swing, no exaggerated seam movement, just full and straight deliveries on the stumps…and Bangladeshi batsmen made him the hero of the day!

In all the three games against South Africa, several Bangladeshi batsmen got starts but failed to convert it to a big knock, with Shakib Al Hasan’s 48 the highest score so far.

Sabbir Rahman of Bangladesh is bowled all ends up by South Africa's Chris Morris during the 1st ODI on July 10, 2015 at Mirpur. Photo: STAR

There were only two 20-plus scores in the first and second T20Is. Needless to say, Bangladesh were booked for 96 on July 05, and 138 on July 07 at Mirpur.

In the first ODI, Soumya Sarkar made 27, Mushfiqur Rahim 24, Nasir Hossain 31 besides Shakib’s 48. Even Tigers skipper bemoaned the pathetic performance of his batters.

"These top-order batsmen should be able to play for a longer time. If a batsman can get set he can do a lot better. We want them to bat till 45-50 overs. But we are not able to do that.” Mashrafe said after the game.

When batsmen get out after getting 20s and 30s, a big total will remain a pipe-dream for Bangladesh in this series as well as in future matches.

It seems Bangladeshi batsmen are not willing to weather the storm and stay at the crease. They are limiting themselves to little cameos, which is an ominous sign for Tigers.

The Mirpur pitch is suppose to help spinners. It was slow and the bounce was not consistent. Yet Bangladeshi spinners failed to take proper advantage of the home conditions.

In the three matches against the Bangladesh, South Africa lost only 10 wickets. Their batsmen have adapted to the pitch quite well, and find it rather easy to milk Bangladeshi spinners for runs.

Bangladeshi spinners captured eight of the ten wickets to fall for the Proteas. On the other hand, South African spinners have taken 11 wickets with a better economy and strike rate.

Since the slow bowlers of Bangladesh don’t give much flight and fire in their deliveries, they cannot extract much spin to trouble the South African batters.

As long as the Bangladeshi spinners look to contain than to pick up wickets, their efforts will be nullified by decisive foot-work of Proteas batters.

All in all, Tigers need to pull up their socks and execute their plans effectively if they are to win against a confident Proteas team.