Bangladesh captain Towhid Hridoy said the lack of top-order partnerships was the main reason behind his side’s 32-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the first T20I.
Chasing 171 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Bangladesh were bowled out for 138 with an over to spare as Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani shared eight wickets, taking four apiece.
Asked after the match what went wrong in the chase, Hridoy said, “Look, chasing 171, from the top we needed partnerships at least one or two big partnerships. But we missed that.”
Bangladesh’s openers Saif Hassan and Tanzid Hasan Tamim put on 25 runs before Ngarava struck twice to reduce the visitors to 34 for 3. The early collapse left Bangladesh on the back foot for the remainder of the innings.
Yasir Ali Rabby, playing his first T20I in three years, was the lone bright spot with 58 off 38 balls, registering his maiden T20I half-century. He shared a 52-run sixth-wicket partnership with Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, but it only helped reduce the margin of defeat as the rest of the batting lineup failed to provide meaningful support.
Despite the setback, Hridoy expressed confidence that Bangladesh would learn from the experience.
“If we face the same kind of situation again, we will try to build those partnerships,” he said.
Reflecting on his decision to field first after winning the toss, Hridoy said the team wanted to make the most of the conditions in Bulawayo.
“We were in a very good position. We just wanted to take advantage of these conditions. But again, as a batting unit, we didn’t bat well,” he added.
