‘My wicket made the difference’: Shanto shoulders blame after Afghanistan ODI loss

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto took accountability for the batting collapse after his team's 92-run defeat to Afghanistan in the first of three ODIs in the UAE yesterday.

Everything was going according to plan for the Tigers at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium when, in pursuit of Afghanistan's 235, Shanto and Mehedi Hasan Miraz put on a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket. Afterwards, though, their batting fell apart like a house of cards, bundling out for 139.

Shanto and Miraz took the score to 120 for two, with the former looking increasingly comfortable with his scoring shots. However, Shanto was lulled into a sweep shot by Mohammad Nabi, who had removed the man at deep square-leg to invite the shot. Once Shanto departed for 47 off 68, Bangladesh's last seven wickets fell for just 11 runs.

"I think my wicket made the difference in this game. I was the set batter, and even Soumya [Sarkar] and Miraz got 30s and 40s, and in these kinds of conditions we needed to bat longer, and that was the main issue with today's [yesterday's] batting," Shanto said at the post-match presentation.

Miraz's ability to read the ball out of the hand has seen him promoted up the order on many occasions against Afghanistan in the past, but this time, having reached 28 after a slow start, he swept off-spinner Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar and was holed out at fine-leg by Azmatullah Omarzai, who took a terrific diving catch.

With Miraz gone, no amount of experience in the middle order could prevent a collapse. Mahmudullah Riyad fell to a Rashid Khan googly, castled through a gate between bat and pad for two. Another veteran, Mushfiqur Rahim, was stumped for just one after failing to read Ghazanfar's carrom ball.

Ghazanfar, who had made the initial breakthrough with Tanzid Hasan Tamim's wicket, finished off the Bangladesh batting with a career-best 6-23. That bit of mystery and a lack of skill in reading the ball from the hand saw Bangladesh fall to a bitter end.

"Afghanistan always have mystery spinners, and he [Ghazanfar] bowled really well," Shanto said.

Afghanistan were at one point 71 for five, but the Tigers let it slip as Nabi's 84 ensured the Afghans reach a challenging score.

"We started well in the first 15-20 overs. But we didn't execute our plans in the middle overs. Nabi batted brilliantly. We didn't need to attack more. The wicket had enough help for the bowlers," said the Bangladesh captain.