Sports desk: Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz said the hosts were taking inspiration from their come-from-behind series win in the West Indies earlier this year as they take on the same opposition in the ODI series decider at Sylhet on Friday (December 14).
In July, after Windies swept the Test series 2-0, Bangladesh made a strong comeback in the limited-overs series by winning the opening ODI at Providence by 48 runs. While Windies made a comeback in the second game to level the series, the visitors clinched the decider by 18 runs to take the series. They also went on to win the three-match T20I series after trailing 0-1.
The ODIs series currently being played in Bangladesh is also levelled at 1-1 after Windies won the second match at Dhaka by four wickets. The bowlers helped them make a strong comeback to restrict Bangladesh to 255 after a good start, and Shai Hope then hit a career-best 146 not out to lead the chase.
“We started off very well but we failed to finish off in the right manner. We were probably 20 runs short and it would have been better if we had those 20 runs on the board. But we are not out of the series yet,” Mehidy said on Wednesday (December 12).
“The last game is a do-or-die game for us. Whenever we are placed in such do-or-die situations we come back strongly. In the West Indies we won the series in the last match and we are taking inspiration from it. So it's a good opportunity for us in the last game against the visitors and we hope to come back strongly in that game,” the off-spinner added.
On a comparatively better track than the one in the first game, Bangladesh were cruising at 193 for 3 in the 41st over but could only post 255 eventually from their allotted overs.
Bangladesh faltered in the death overs even with their bowling. Despite a well-set Hope at one end, the hosts clawed their way back into the game by taking a few wickets, but failed to sustain that pressure. Hope, having hit a century already, kept his calm and finished the job for his team.
“In the last couple of matches we failed to execute our plans in the slog overs [particularly the pace bowlers] and if we can improve in those areas, it will benefit us. Our batsmen are doing well and they just need to continue with that.
“Shai Hope is playing excellent cricket and in the last game it was a chanceless effort, so we need to work on how to stop him. They won because they played well while we lacked in some areas. We just need to improve on that,” he noted.
A slew of missed catches was also to be blamed for their loss in Dhaka. Mehidy acknowledged the shortcoming and hoped for an improved show in the do-or-die game next.
“Missing catches is a part of cricket. We took some brilliant catches as well. Sometimes just due to misjudgment we fail to grip the ball but that is part of the game and hopefully we will make a turnaround in [next] game,” he concluded.
