Litton urges lower order to deliver

Going into the series, skipper Litton Das had raised concerns over the Bangladesh lower-middle order’s output with the bat. In yesterday’s rain-curtailed T20I series-decider in Mirpur, the lower-order chaos was exhibited again during a six-wicket defeat that saw New Zealand draw level.

Both openers, Tanzid Tamim and Saif Hassan, struggled during the series. During the 180-plus chase in the opening fixture, their Powerplay contributions had actually put the side under further pressure before the middle order recovered to guide a solid chase in Chattogram.

Coming into the third and final clash, Bangladesh, batting first, lost their last six wickets for just 16 runs, showing the vulnerability of a batting order in a format where death-overs contributions can have a huge impact.

“I said before that the lower order has responsibility and we want that they have some output with the bat. There was space today [to make contributions], but it was failure once again,” Litton said flatly, underlining his disappointment.

Litton and Tawhid Hridoy had put on a partnership, but the tempo was different after the almost two-hour rain break. Bangladesh had lost three wickets before the break, but could not quite build on partnerships ever since. “When you bat two different ways, knowing your strength is six batters, you will not be able to take big risks.”

“When you get a break like that in the T20 format, and overs too are reduced, it brings extra pressure since you have to give a big total. Obviously, when you play a high-risk game, you can get out. If I hadn’t gotten out to that shot, maybe the game would have gone deeper,” Litton said of his innings.

When Shamim Hossain was dismissed, Bangladesh’s innings quickly unravelled. The lower-middle order of Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin contributed 12 runs. In the last two years, Jaker Ali and Mahedi have played the most matches at number six -- 10 and 14 matches, respectively. Mahedi, in 14 innings during that period, averages just over five, contributing 21 runs.

Litton outlined that they needed five bowlers for the 20 overs and needed their spinners to score, having already asked a reporter if there are any players in Bangladesh “who can bat at seven and bowl four overs”.

“Rishad [Hossain], Mahedi and Nasum [Ahmed] are playing as spinners. All over the world, those who play as spinners can bat… Mahedi can bat, but we need his performances [with bat] in international cricket, same with Rishad and Nasum.

“For all-rounders, we have Saifuddin and [Abdul Gaffar] Saqlain, along with [Tanzim] Sakib, and we expect some batting from them because there will be games like this where we need our lower order to fire.”