Mashrafe has no complaints

A number of streaks came to an end on Wednesday as England overcame Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Wednesday. By winning the series decider England inflicted the first ODI series defeat for the Tigers at home since June 2014 when they were beaten 2-0 by India.

After a series that ebbed and flowed from Bangladesh's abject surrender in the first match, through the skipper's rousing all-round display in the second to England's superiority in helpful conditions in the decider settled the issue. 

The margins of victory in each match -- 21 runs, 34 runs and four wickets -- revealed how closely the sides were matched. In the end, though both sides said that England got the better of the conditions having won a crucial toss, the picture emerged that England's batting and overall balance were slightly superior to their hosts. More players, both young and experienced, through the series stepped up for them, such as player-of-the-series Ben Stokes; newcomers Ben Duckett, Sam Billings and Jake Ball; leg-spinner Adil Rashid and skipper Jos Buttler.

This was also the first ODI series that Bangladesh lost under captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's latest reign. The pacer was given the captaincy in September 2014 -- ahead of the Zimbabwe series -- and his side went on to win six series on the trot.

However, ask Mashrafe and he will tell you that he does not really care about records. He has already started to look ahead towards the New Zealand series in December, Bangladesh's first away tour since August 2015.

"Honestly, I have no complaints about the way we played the third ODI. I just think that England's spinners were able to reap the benefits from the pitch by 110 per cent, whereas we couldn't even use it by ten percent because of the dew.

"Congratulations to England. They played really well. But yes the dew in the night did make it difficult for us. When we first saw the turn, we were happy with the score of 277. This could have been the perfect match for us had it not been for the dew," Mashrafe had said after the match.

"But I am sure a series defeat like this won't affect our future games. And I also think we can start afresh for the New Zealand series. It's painful to stay in the losing side, but that's the reality. That's how life goes," he added.

The captain further said that with the away tour of New Zealand coming up, Bangladesh would have to get set for a new challenge.

"I think our main challenge will start now. We have won almost 90 percent of our home series. We have been successful at home. But the next challenge is to do well away from home in New Zealand," said Mashrafe.

When asked how he felt after having lost his first series since being appointed captain for the second time, he said: "Actually, there's no difference. My thought processes are the same. I don't really think too far ahead and so I can't tell you if my thought process will change because of this defeat."

"I will prepare for the New Zealand series the same way I have been doing so far," he added.