Not worried about what happened today, says Tamim

Bangladesh were undone by the extra bounce from the South African pacers led by Kagiso Rabada who picked up a fifer to dismantle the Bangladesh batting line-up in the second ODI and helped the Proteas level the three-match series 1-1 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg today.

The Tigers batters danced to some ominous music from the Proteas quicks and were greeted by some nasty short-pitched deliveries as Bangladesh, at one stage, were reeling on 34 for 5 inside 13 overs.

Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal said they knew the Proteas would come hard in the first ten overs. He further added that it was crucial to have a good start much like they did in the first ODI, where Tamim and Liton Das added 94 runs for the opening stand and laid the platform for a big score.

"We did well in the first game that we didn't give anything away, that's why we capitalised in the middle overs, but today the situation was different. We lost too many wickets up front and there was not enough batsman to capitalise later," Tamim told at the post-match presentation while he mentioned that he would not have chosen to bat first if the unpredictable nature of the Wanderers wicket could have been predicted.

"Look, we all expected that there will be pace and bounce in South Africa but today [the wicket] had uneven bounce. If you notice my dismissal, it kicked off the surface while some kept low and it has nothing to do with the pace and bounce. I thought today [the surface] was uneven."

Despite the early collapse, however, Bangladesh recovered well, riding on Afif Hossain Dhrubo's brilliant 72-run knock, during which he stitched two fifty-plus partnerships with Mahmudullah and Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

Asked whether the Tigers missed the chance to post somewhere near 230-240, Tamim replied, "250 could have been a very good score. If you noticed, there was some spin as well from one end and I think 250-240 would have been a very good score.

"I think the wicket of [Yasir Ali] Rabbi was costly because when he and Mushfiqur were batting Rabada was bowling his last ball [of his spell] and since he got the wicket, he came and bowled two more overs. Small things make a big difference and despite losing early wickets, if that partnership had continued to make it deep and post somewhere 230-250, probably then there was a chance."

Birthday boy Tamim, who turned 33 today, found one positive in Afif's batting. Tamim revealed that the team management is seeing the left-hander as the suitable number seven batter for the Tigers.

With the third and series-deciding encounter on Wednesday, according to Tamim, it will be crucial for the Tigers to handle the South African quicks well and not giving them early wickets could be the key to score big against the hosts.

"In cricket, every day is a new day and I am not worried about what happened today, but one thing I would say is that we have to play well. If we can do how we did in the first game then we have a very good chance or if we repeat what we did today our chances become low. We have to play well, there are no excuses," concluded the skipper.