DHAKA, Nov 8, 2024 (BSS)-Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz said they made mistakes by not batting responsibly but at the same time, the wicket made their task tougher in the first match, which they eventually ended up losing by 92 runs.

The Tigers seemed to head toward a facile victory, while chasing the target of 236 but suddenly tasted a collapse that forced them losing last eight wickets for 23 runs. In the recent past, they had experienced so many batting collapse but the magnitude was not as horrible as they saw it in the three-match series opening game.

"The wicket seemed good to bat on but suddenly everything was changed. While the odd ball was turning, sometimes, it was coming straight. It was in fact hard to predict, which ball will turn," Miraz told the reporters today at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

'All those things happened so suddenly that we got little time to react."

Despite losing opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim cheaply, Bangladesh were on course of the victory with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Miraz batting with steely resolve.

As the side reached 120-2, Shanto was dismissed and it initiated the collapse that Bangladesh didn't ponder in their wild imagination. Miraz then followed Shanto and to their dismay both of the batters perished to sweep shots.

"One thing you see, when I was batting with Shanto, the wicket seemed easy for both of us. But after 20 overs when the ball got a bit softer and old then suddenly the bowlers got turn and bounce aplenty," he said.

'We were set batters and we should take the responsibility to finish off the game but we couldn't do that. That's our mistake. I made a mistake, Shanto also made a mistake. We discussed it. In this type of wicket I think the set batters needed to finish," Miraz said, admitting their mistakes.

Afghanistan also had a disastrous start by being reduced to 35-4 but unlike Bangladesh, they batted with patience to quell the fear of being bowled in low total.

Miraz put the blame on spinners by not being able to get wickets in the middle overs after pacers gave the side a good start.

"Our pacers were excellent. They put us on top but I think I couldn't live up to the expectation. If Rishad and I could have taken at least two wickets in the middle overs, things would have been different," he said.

He said despite the horrible defeat in the first match, Bangladesh are able to make strong comeback by winning the second game tomorrow.

"In international cricket, every team is of good quality. You can never underestimate a team," he said.

"A bad game won't make us bad team. The wicket was not what we expected. So after playing the first game, we got an idea about the wicket, hopefully we can level the series," he added.