T20 World Cup 2024
Shanto: We lost our hope of semi-finals after losing three wickets
|| CF DESK ||
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his team gave up hope for a spot in the T20 World Cup semi-finals after losing three wickets in their chase against Afghanistan in Kingstown.
"The plan was to try (to win in 12.1 overs) if we get a good start in the powerplay. We thought that if we don't lose early wickets, we could take the chance (to go for the semi-finals). When we lost three wickets, we had a different plan. We wanted to see how we could win the game. The middle-order didn't take good enough decisions, which is why we lost the game today," Shanto said after the match.
Bangladesh were 75 for 5 after nine overs when Towhid Hridoy hit two fours off Mohammad Nabi, and Litton Das hit two more fours off Rashid Khan. They needed 43 runs in 3.1 overs, but Mahmudullah's sluggish batting and Rashid's two wickets in the 11th over ended Bangladesh's chances of reaching the semi-finals.
Litton's unbeaten 54 helped Bangladesh reach a total of 105 before being bowled out in the 18th over. This result confirmed Afghanistan's place in the semi-finals at the expense of Australia.
Shanto rued after missing out on the opportunity to beat Afghanistan despite chasing a small target.
"We wanted to win the match. It was the initial plan. When we saw 115 runs on the board, we had a plan to win in 12.1 overs. The batting group made a lot of poor decisions. It is frustrating and disappointing. We wanted to win this game. We had the chance in our grasp. We couldn't take it," he added.