Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed said on Saturday (October 17) that their batting unit failed to capitalise on its chances against Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tri-nation ODI series, insisting that 270 was a chaseable total on the batting-friendly Abu Dhabi wicket.

Bangladesh's batting was exposed as they slumped to a 99-run defeat against Zimbabwe after being bowled out for 172 in 33.4 overs while chasing 272 at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. The collapse undid the work of a promising start with the ball.

Bangladesh have now failed to chase a target of 240 or more in eight of their last 10 innings batting second. The defeat also came in Towhid Hridoy's first match as full-time ODI captain, with the batting unit having suffered a significant blow after Litton Das was ruled out of the tournament due to a right hip joint injury.

However, Taskin, who picked up three wickets, was not ready to use Litton's absence as an excuse.

“270 was definitely chaseable, at least against Zimbabwe,” Taskin told reporters following the game.

“We actually didn't play well, meaning we should have chased it, and unfortunately, we couldn't form a single partnership. Just one partnership would have taken the game away, but repeatedly, mistakes are made in batting,” he said.

“In bowling, at least the consistency has improved somewhat, perhaps, but in batting, for example, our batsmen should have won this match, I think, but unfortunately, they couldn't. But still, there's one game left, and we hope to fight back well so we can play the final,” he said.

“The problem is with consistency and it has been observed that we need to build this consistency and game awareness.Our lack of game awareness is a bit more because everyone has the skill, and all of you who watch cricket know that every batsman has proven that they can bat well. So sometimes, team-wise, you'll see that we collapse very quickly under pressure; this is what we actually need to overcome. If we want to be a big team, we somehow have to overcome this. I'm sure we are all working together on how to fix this quickly,” he said.

“I hope that if we can win the next match and fight back, Inshallah, it's still possible. Because if we can't play the final of this tri-nation tournament, we will be somewhat morally down, but we will try to make a strong comeback in the next match,” he said.

Bangladesh have not won a bilateral series away from home since beating Ireland in Chelmsford in 2023. Asked whether that record was a matter of concern, Taskin said the team needed to improve across departments.

“No, actually, this has been a reality check, showing us which areas we need to improve, batting, bowling, team-wise. Because this is not an individual game, meaning one or two individual successes don't really count if we can't win the match. So, since it's a team game, we need to improve everything team-wise. And batsmen and bowlers all have the same responsibilities, as it's not a one-sided game, it's both sides. So, I'm sure our batsmen are working very hard, and I hope they will smartly correct their mistakes and make a comeback because there's another game ahead, but these things actually need to be fixed quickly. I'm sure, Inshallah, these will be fixed very soon,” said the pace bowler.

Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan in their second game of the tri-nation series on October 21.