Follow UsPakistan eased past Bangladesh in the first match of the Super Fours at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Barring Shakib Al Hasan (53) and Mushfiqur Rahim (64), who put on 100 for the fifth wicket, there was no contribution from the rest of the batters as they were bundled out for just 193.
In the end, Pakistan broke little sweat as they chased down the target with seven wickets and over 10 runs to spare. Nic Pothas, Bangladesh assistant coach, has blamed the poor decision taken by his batters and calls for some consistency.
"From a batting point of view today, it was all about decision-making. We probably didn't make the right decisions at the right time for these conditions, but that's always going to be a challenge with a team that is just starting through transition," Pothas said after the game.
"Rather than looking too far ahead, it's just about some consistency. We probably didn't bat very well in Kandy, and then we played really well against Afghanistan and probably didn't peak tonight. We are trying to find the right combination for us at the moment, and we are a team that is in transition. So yeah, some consistency at the moment, I think that would be the goal," he said.
While not criticising the decision to win the toss and bat first, Pothas feels that taking on the Pakistan pace trio of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf in that heat was not ideal.
"When you win the toss and bat first, you obviously want to put a score on the board, but you are also talking about an elite bowling attack. I think where we made it a little bit easier for the attack is the option that we took against that seam attack in the heat," Pothas said.
"Ideally, we would like to bat a lot deeper than that and put a score on the board, and that is the nature of cricket when playing against top seam attacks. Yes, we need improvement in that area, but if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it."
Despite losing wickets, Pothas also reckons that the aggressive approach in the first powerplay is nothing new and quite common in the modern game.
"I don't think it's anything new [playing aggressively in the powerplay despite losing early wickets], and all the teams are doing that. That is the impact of T20 cricket," he said.
"I think any side, and if you look at all the teams in the Asia Cup, there will be no difference in the World Cup, that all batters and bowlers are looking for an advantage, and all the teams will come hard in the first power play. So it is not something that we do; I think it is just the way the world of cricket runs at the moment."
Bangladesh will look to bounce back in their second Super Four game, which will be against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday (September 9).