Winning a dead rubber does not add much

When your opponents rest key performers from the series in a dead rubber game, how fruitful are even positive results you get from the game? That is exactly what Bangladesh were left with after winning the third and final T20I against USA on Saturday.

The Tigers executed their plans against an understrength USA side in the third T20I but it will not erase the lack of impetus shown in first two T20Is.

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One of the major issues is that of performances of individuals having had a domino effect throughout the team. If things did not work out at the start, the latter players have not worked out a solution to winning matches, especially in case of batting.

The Tigers also failed to win the first two matches from favourable positions which puts their current confidence levels under the microscope. In the first game, death-over bowling lacked conviction but in international T20Is, defending 150-run scores is a difficult task.

In the second game, the Tigers appeared to be ambling towards victory before a disastrous batting collapse led to a series defeat.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto had said after the second loss that there was no skill-gap, instead there were mentality issues with the side. However, it is proven that skill-gap leads to such mental breakdowns and how far the team is addressing those issues was evident.

If the idea was to adapt to the USA conditions, the first hurdle saw Bangladesh miss the train in terms of showing hunger and desire to perform.

After winning the first two games, USA did not even allow the Tigers to gauge themselves properly in the third T20I, simply by taking out some of their key players from the game. Their preparations are on track but winning a dead rubber does not add up much for Bangladesh despite a dominating 10-wicket win.

Stuart Law, who had served as Bangladesh's under-19 coach recently and is the newly-appointed head coach of USA, said the home team's desire to win was greater.

"We had more desire and passion about the game in the first two matches," Law said.

"We wanted it a bit more than what they did. Today [Saturday] it was a different story. We may have relaxed a little bit. Bangladesh played pretty well. They will take this in their stride. We were in a privileged position today with the series in our hands. It was nice to give opportunities to other players," he added.

The mental game has already been won by USA and in the World Cup, tougher games await the Tigers. Najmul Hossain, Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan are going through a rough patch with the bat while wicket-keeper Jaker Ali Anik's performances behind the stumps will not have boosted confidence heading into a major tournament.

Mustafizur Rahman's six-wicket haul on Saturday saw USA put on a below-par score. Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Soumya Sarkar's unbeaten stand then helped the Tigers cruise to victory, which should add a bit of self-belief at the top of the batting order.

"I think the boys showed a lot of character today. I think the plan we made before this match, everyone executed," Shanto had said after the game.

However, the team would do well knowing that things are not going to be as easy as the third T20I in the World Cup and rather than sporadic performances, they need to gather up as a team.