Bangladesh Fell Short in Harare Due to First-Innings Performance: Shanto

Bangla Press Desk:   Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto admitted that his side’s poor first-innings batting was the decisive factor behind their crushing innings-and-85-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the lone Test in Harare on Tuesday.

Bangladesh were bowled out for just 140 in the first innings before being dismissed for 185 in the second, suffering a comprehensive loss inside three days.

Shanto said that the visitors had failed to execute their plans in both batting and bowling, but pointed to the first innings as the turning point of the match.

“In the first innings, we didn’t bat properly. That cost us the match,” Shanto said after the defeat. “With both batting and bowling, we didn’t do well — especially in the first innings.”

Bangladesh entered the Test on the back of strong performances in recent white-ball cricket and a series win over Pakistan in Tests, but Shanto said that the different conditions in Harare exposed their shortcomings.

“We’ve been playing some good cricket. But the conditions here are different. We just couldn’t execute our plans,” he said.

The captain, however, defended the decision to rest some senior players like Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan Miraz for the Test, describing it as part of a broader plan.

“It is part of the plan to rest those players,” he said.

Despite the heavy defeat, Shanto insisted the team remains confident, particularly after their recent success in white-ball cricket.

“We’ve been playing some brilliant cricket in white-ball cricket. So the boys are pretty confident,” he added.