WI vs BAN 2018: We missed someone like Andre Russell, says Shakib after first T20I loss

Windies won the match by 7 wickets.

Andre Russell powered the Windies to victory. (Getty)

After winning the ODI series under Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh made a losing start to their T20I series campaign under Shakib Al Hasan. It was Andre Russell's powerpacked 21 ball 35 which helped the Windies to chase down 91 inside 10 overs.  To add to his batting exploits, Russel took a wicket with the ball as well. 

After the loss, Shakib said that Bangladesh missed someone like Russell who could turn the game on its head single-handedly. "At one stage we were 100 in 11 overs but by that stage we also lost five wickets. It's tough to make a comeback from that position unless you have someone like Andre Russell or someone like him who can change the game single-handedly," Shakib told reporters after the defeat.

Having posted just posted 143 meant that Bangladesh had to bowl really well to defend the target, but as it turned out Russell has other plans to deal with the total.  

"It is always difficult to defend such a total because you have to take wickets at regular intervals if you want to win a game with such kind of total on the board," said Shakib.

Shakib defended the approach of his batsmen for the way they went about their business in the first game. 

"You cannot blame them [the openers] because in this kind of format you have to charge from the very beginning. The important thing was that we lost wickets at crucial stages. Even after the early wickets, me and Liton [Das] had a good partnership but we lost our wickets in the last over of the Powerplay, which was a setback for us."

"Mushfiqur bhai and [Mahmudullah] Riyad bhai had a good partnership, and then Mushfiqur bhai lost his wicket. We lost wickets at crucial stages and that is why we never had the momentum," he added.

Bangladesh will play the final two T20s of the tour at Florida, USA on August 5 and 6.
 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 03 Aug, 2018

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