It is to Bangladesh's credit that they worked themselves into a position in the ongoing tri-series from where they can afford to lose a game, and there is some merit in saying that if they were to have a terrible game it is better to get it out of the way before the final. Yesterday's debacle against Sri Lanka, however, should not be brushed aside as an anomaly -- the capitulation to 82 all out once Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal failed, and the shots played to bring about that sorry total bring back some sinister memories of the South Africa tour that the Tigers will do well to learn from before tomorrow's final.
In South Africa last September-October, Bangladesh lost all seven matches across formats without much fight. Shakib missed the Test leg and Tamim played just two matches -- the first Test and the second ODI -- in a tour blighted by a thigh muscle tear. In this tri-series, while the three matches won handsomely before yesterday's debacle were team efforts on the field, in the batting stakes it was mostly Shakib and Tamim.
The duo, who hogged the player-of-the-match award in Bangladesh's bonus-point wins in the first three games, scored 56.4 per cent of the team's runs before yesterday. In the third game against Zimbabwe, after they put on 106 for the second wicket, Bangladesh lost their last eight wickets for 104 runs, and that number looks better because of the 46 added by the tail.
Yesterday, Shakib was run out for eight and Tamim bounced out for five. And then, like against Zimbabwe and during most of the South Africa tour, it was a procession of batsmen to and from the pavilion.
This is not to say that had Shakib and Tamim featured together in all the South Africa matches and, if they then scored big runs in all those games, that the result would have been different. It instead illustrates the point that in recent times, Bangladesh's middle order -- populated by the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad and the inexperienced Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain -- do not seem to have the appetite for a fight or to bat ugly, which was required yesterday on a pitch with dual bounce and pace.
Tamim has embodied that quality of late, as his patient and match-winning 105-ball 76 on a similar wicket against Zimbabwe proved. Shakib's promotion to number three also seems to have had that effect, as illustrated by his 80-ball 51 in the last match. But the middle four failed to realise and execute what Shakib and Tamim have been doing. It was obvious that yesterday's wicket was not a 250-plus one and, once they were cut down to 16 for three, that a score over 200 would have been a fighting total.
However, just when it was time to step out of the Tamim-Shakib shadow, the four middle order batsmen each fell to attacking shots when consolidation and single-seeking was the need of the hour. That was the refrain in South Africa too, and in this respect most culpable are Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, both of whom are known for their ability to mount rearguards.
Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza hinted after the match that it was the failure of the middle order in two consecutive matches that made the difference. “We have found out how poorly we can play on our bad day. There's no guarantee of not losing Shakib and Tamim early in the final, so now we have an idea.”
It remains to be seen if Bangladesh can correct course tomorrow, or if they will be looking to Shakib and Tamim to once again cover the widening cracks.
