‘Winning three series a real morale boost’

Although Bangladesh completed the five-match T20I series against New Zealand with a 27-run defeat in the final game, the Tigers will have gained in confidence after three consecutive T20I series wins.

Following a whitewash at the hands of New Zealand in a three-match T20I series to start the year, Bangladesh bounced back strongly in the format, clinching series wins starting with a 2-1 win over Zimbabwe. That was followed by a 4-1 win over Australia and the latest 3-2 win over the Kiwis at home.

T20I skipper Mahmudullah Riyad believes the wins will give his side a much-needed morale boost ahead of the start of the Tigers' T20 World Cup mission, which starts from the qualifying round in Oman.

"I think we have played some very good cricket in the last three series. And winning three series in a row a real morale-boost. Hopefully, we can regroup at the World Cup and win some games over there," Mahmudullah said during the post-match presentation yesterday.

However, there are still concerns about whether Bangladesh extracting the most of home conditions for those series win will prove beneficial in preparing the Tigers for the mega-event, where pitches are expected to offer runs as they tend to do in ICC events.

The pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur for the fifth match played much better compared to the preceding games and the visitors posted 161 for five -- the most by any team in the last ten T20I matches at Mirpur.

In reply, Bangladesh ended on 134 for 8 after 20 overs as their batting department continued to be an area of concern ahead of the World Cup, with the top-order once again failing to provide a solid platform.

The Tigers were struggling on 46 for four inside nine overs before a 63-run fifth-wicket stand between Afif Hossain, who top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 49, and Mahmudullah raised some hope but that was ultimately not enough.

Bangladesh's skipper credited the Kiwi bowlers and added that losing early wickets proved costly in the end.

"I think bowlers did quite well but we didn't finish well enough. We probably went for too many runs in the last couple of overs but the bowlers bowled their hearts out. The spinners bowled really well. Shoriful also picked up two early wickets and gave us the momentum to restrict them," the 35-year-old said.

"It was a good wicket to bat on but I think we didn't start well. The required run-rate kept climbing. Afif and I had a good partnership but I think New Zealand bowled and executed their plans really well."