Tigers’ slip sets up tense series decider

Captain Liton Das will be under growing pressure to deliver as Bangladesh look to bounce back from a shock defeat to the UAE and avoid further embarrassment in the T20I series decider at Sharjah today.

Despite posting an imposing 205 for five in the second and penultimate T20I on Monday, the Tigers fell apart in the field, suffering their first-ever loss to the hosts in any format.

In the aftermath, the question regarding Bangladeshi players' game sense was raised quite evidently, as they got several opportunities to close the game. However, due to poor execution, the home team eventually crossed the line in the second-last delivery of the match.

Bangladesh had capable bowlers to defend such a total -- albeit relatively inexperienced from the series opener, which featured the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud. However, a new-look bowling unit could hardly put a brake on UAE's run flow, allowing them to stay in the contest despite the hosts having lost regular wickets following a 107-run opening stand between Muhammad Waseem and Muhammad Zohaib.

Even the fielding department was below par, as Towhid Hridoy and Liton Das dropped a few regulation catches during crucial junctures of the game, while an overthrow in the penultimate over by Shoriful Islam that had a huge impact on the result of the contest before the indecisiveness of Tanzim Sakib and Hridoy led to missed run-out chances in the final over.

"Look, it's a game of two teams. I think they batted really well and hence they came on top. We batted well too, but again we dropped a few catches and kept them in the game," Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons told reporters after the match.

From the surface level, Bangladeshi batters have done quite well by posting 191-7 and 205-5 in the opening two games so far, but their performance left room for improvement.

In the opening match, Parvez Hossain Emon made a blistering hundred, while the rest could only bat at an average strike rate of 100. The next game saw Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Hridoy and Liton make meaningful contributions but the run flow in the middle overs came back to bite them.

Before taking on the UAE in the series decider, captain Liton will be under pressure for a separate reason, as he will be hoping to gain some confidence with some runs under his belt before travelling to Pakistan for a three-match T20I series.

In the second match, Liton was among the run-getters for the Tigers, but he was seen struggling hard during his 32-ball 40-run innings, and it also stretched his fifty-less innings in this format to eight matches.

A strong response is expected from the Tigers as they head into the decider, and much will depend on how they respond under pressure -- both collectively and individually.