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Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto revealed that they planned to chase down Afghanistan's paltry score of 116 but admitted that they lost hope of reaching the semi-final after losing a cluster of wickets in the middle phase in their Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
When Afghanistan folded on 115/5, Bangladesh and Australia's hopes raised of bagging a spot in the final four despite their woeful Super 8 campaign. Bangladesh needed to chase down the total in 12.1 overs to qualify for the semi-final, while Australia would have secured a spot alongside India if Bangladesh failed to achieve it and only secured a win against Afghanistan. Bangladesh slumped to 23/3 in 2.5 overs. They changed their plan, but Afghanistan didn't allow them to take a breather with their disciplined spells. Shanto disclosed that their plan of action was to pile up runs on the board in the powerplay. But Bangladesh lost three in the powerplay, putting them on the back foot. "The plan was that we would try to score in the first six overs. If we start well and we don't lose the early wickets, then we will take the chance. But when we lost three early wickets, our plan was different. Our plan was how we could win the match then. Because our plan was to win the match. I would say that the middle order didn't make a good decision. Because of this, I think we lost the match,' Shanto said in the post-match press conference. Towhid Hridoy found the fence twice off Mohammad Nabi, and Litton Das hit a towering six off Rashid Khan in the 9th over to keep Bangladesh in the mix. They managed to rack up 75/5 on the board in the 9th over. Things started to change in the next couple of overs, with Noor Ahmed keeping things tight and Rashid striking twice in the 11th over. Afghanistan put a dent in Bangladesh's hopes of reaching the semi-final. "I think, first of all, we wanted to win the match. That is the initial plan. After the first innings, when we saw 115 on the board, we had a plan that we could win 12.1 overs. So that was the plan. But as I mentioned, the batting group made a lot of poor decisions," Shanto added. Bangladesh bundled out on 105 in 17.5 overs, sealing Afghanistan's spot in the semi-final against South Africa. (ANI)
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