T20 World Cup: The team is frustrated, admits Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah

Bangladesh return home with five straight defeats in Super 12

Amid the Australian jubilation under the Ring of Fire, a pall of gloom descended on the Bangladesh fans as the Tigers collapsed to yet another defeat on Thursday.

The talented team from the South Asian country will return home empty-handed from the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup.

And the mood at the stadium felt like the country of 164 million cricket-mad people had been swept away by a catastrophic tsunami.

Sound bites were transmitted from the Dubai International Cricket Stadium’s press box by distraught Bangladeshi journalists in gripping narratives, depicting the chaos, confusion, helplessness and a complete lack of direction on the road ahead for the team.

Five defeats from five matches after losing to Scotland in the preliminary round will indeed be a bitter pill to swallow for a team that had beaten New Zealand and Australia convincingly at home before coming to the World Cup.

Bangladesh were supreme on tailor-made pitches for spinners at home against Australia and New Zealand. But when the pitches in UAE offered batsmen and bowlers a level playing field, the Tigers lost their bite, making yet another disappointing exit from a premier tournament.

Handicapped by the injury to their talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh were ripped apart by Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday as Mahmudullah’s men collapsed to an embarrassing 73 all out.

Australian captain Aaron Finch (40 off 200 balls) then quickly put the Tigers out of their misery as the Aussies reached home in 6.2 overs, keeping their own semifinal hopes alive.

Adam Zampa (4-0-5-19) missed out on a hat trick, but the Australian leg-spinner was clinical as he cleaned up the lower-middle order and tail-enders after some outstanding spells from the pace bowlers left the Bangladesh top-order in tatters.

“Of course, there is frustration in the team. It’s a good team with talented and experienced players. We have to soon figure out the things that have gone wrong. It’s been a very disappointing campaign for us,” Mahmudullah admitted at the post-match press conference.

“I think if you see just before the World Cup when we played against Australia and New Zealand in home conditions, our bowling department had been up to the mark in every game. But we struggled on those wickets, obviously the batters struggled,” the Bangladesh captain said.

“As a professional cricketer when you play in any sort of conditions, you need to adapt -- I feel that you need to adapt to those conditions, and when you come out of your home and play on good wickets, I think there are a lot of areas that we need to work on, especially in our batting, powerplay batting or in the middle. That's what I felt.”

While Bangladesh will now have to deal with a reinvigorated Pakistan in a home series after the World Cup, Australia are in the race to earn a ticket for a possible semifinal clash against Babar Azam’s men in the UAE.

With the emphatic victory on Thursday, Australia not only bounced back after a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to England, they also jumped to the second spot ahead of South Africa in Group 1, thanks to their superior Net Run Rate.

Finch’s men will now be brimming with confidence ahead of their final Super 12 clash against the inconsistent West Indies.

“Really clinical performance today,” Finch said. “We have to play well against West Indies. We have a couple of days to recharge and then a couple of days to practise."

Brief Scores

Australia beat Bangladesh by eight wickets

Bangladesh 73 all out in 15 overs (Shamim Hossain 19, Naim Mohammad 17; Adam Zampa 5/19, Josh Hazlewood 2-8)

Australia 78/2 in 6.2 overs (Aaron Finch 40, David Warner 18; Taskin Ahmed 1/36, Shoriful Islam 1/9)

Player of the Match: Adam Zampa (Australia)