Shanto rues batting collapse in the middle overs

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain was disappointed by the top-order batters' performances in the first game against India and after today's five-wicket loss against New Zealand saw them crash out of the Champions Trophy, the Bangladesh skipper rued the collapse during the middle overs.

Although Shanto himself took control of the top-order with an innings of 77, the Tigers lost three key wickets after the 15-over mark which not only saw the innings lose shape and momentum. Michael Bracewell was the star of the show for the Kiwis, picking up Tanzid Hasan early before causing the middle overs collapse with the wicket of Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah cheaply.

Bangladesh in the end managed a middling score of 236.

"I thought we started well with the bat but we lost wickets in the middle. On this pitch we didn't bat well," Shanto said, commenting on a positive start in the Powerplay.

He felt that the quick wickets in the middle overs was a disappointing aspect.

"It's a pretty good wicket, we just needed two big partnerships. It was disappointing after the ten-over performance. We should've carried on," he added.

Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana got early wickets with the ball but in the end, Rachin Ravindra's ton did not give Tigers much of a sniff for a majority of the New Zealand chase while Tigers' fielding lacked conviction, missing out on a few chances.

"He [Nahid] is brilliant, the way he bowled he has made us happy. Last few years our bowling unit has done a great job but our batters need to step up," he opined.

With Bangladesh and hosts Pakistan already out of the tournament after two matches, the Group A match between the two teams has become a dead rubber but Shanto said they wanted to finish on a high to get back some confidence.

"It's an important game. If we finish it on a high note it will give us a lot of confidence but we need to do well as a batting group and as a fielding side as well and I hope they will be better in the next match," he said, reminding the team of the chances they missed on the field in the New Zealand game.