Mashrafe seeks strong Bangladesh finish

• Bangladesh missed out against Australia as their semi-final chances were dented
• Games against Afghanistan, India and Pakistan remain for the Tigers

Semi-final qualification is almost certainly out of their hands but Mashrafe Mortaza’s Bangladesh are not throwing in the towel any time soon.

The Tigers went down by 48 runs to Australia at Trent Bridge but not before putting up a fight with the bat, Mushfiqur Rahim’s unbeaten hundred helping them to 333/8 from their 50 overs.

But an expensive bowling display leaves their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 chances in a difficult position with just three games of their group stage remaining.

Three wins may not even be enough to reach the last four but Mashrafe feels his side have the fight for a strong finish, starting with Monday’s match against Afghanistan.

“You never know what can happen, it’s still possible to get through,” he said. “All we can do is try and win three matches, we have to play hard and let’s see.

“It’s going to be difficult for sure, even if we win we still have to look at what’s going on in other games.

“But from our side, whatever happens, it’s very important that we finish those three matches well, taking it one game at a time.

“The top four teams are playing very well, if they’d lost one or two more matches it could have gone a different way, but there are a few matches to go yet.”

Australia posted 381/5 from their innings, opener David Warner leading the way with a 2019 World Cup high of 166.

But it could have been so different for Mashrafe’s charges, with half-chances going begging including the opportunity to have Warner dismissed early on at backward point.

That saw Bangladesh take just one wicket in the first 44 overs and while Soumya Sarkar led a late charge with the ball, it was all too late for the captain.

“It was a very good wicket, both teams wanted to have a bat,” he added. “We created a few chances that could have been taken, against big sides you have to take the 50-50s, it could have been a lot different.

“Australia knew that if they don't give wicket away, they can damage us. Not picking off wicket was the main thing for us.

“It’s a difficult wicket to bowl on against a player like David Warner but we could have taken a few chances and limited them to 300 or 320.

“Anything around that would have been good but we’re costing 40 or 50 runs in most of the matches with the ball.

“We only get wickets when the damage is done, and it’s hard for our batters when we’re asking them to chase big targets.”