Tanzid takes blame as Bangladesh slump to 14-run defeat against West Indies

Bangladesh opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim took the blame upon himself after failing to see his side home in the second T20I of the three-match series against the West Indies in Chattogram on Wednesday.

"Given how the wicket was, only the set batsmen should finish the innings here. The wicket was a little bit sticky; the ball wasn't coming onto the bat. It's tough for new batsmen to hit shots from the beginning. I think if I could have stayed until the end, maybe the match would have been won," Tanzid told reporters after the game.

Chasing a modest target of 150, Bangladesh looked well placed at 117-3 after 17 overs, with Tanzid well set on 61 and Jaker Ali Anik at the other end.

However, Tanzid's dismissal in the 18th over changed the complexion of the game. Attempting to cut a wide delivery from Romario Shepherd, he was caught at deep backward point for 61 off 48 balls. Jaker, who struggled throughout his innings, was dismissed later in the same over after making 17 off 18 balls, handing the West Indies the upper hand.

The collapse continued as Shamim Hossain fell to Jason Holder in the next over. Bangladesh eventually finished on 135 for 8, falling 14 runs short of the target and conceding a 2-0 series defeat with one match still to play.

The loss marked Bangladesh's first T20I series defeat after four consecutive wins, while for the West Indies, it was their first series victory in the format after three successive losses.

Tanzid admitted that despite the challenging surface, the total was well within reach.

"Honestly, no matter what the wicket was like, 150 was a chaseable total. This is truly a failure of us, the batters. We all failed to take responsibility. I don't want to say much about it, but perhaps it was just a bad day for us. Now it's up to us to figure out how to recover from this," he said.

Meanwhile, West Indies opener Alick Athanaze, who played a key role with 52 off 33 balls, shared a 105-run opening stand with Shai Hope (55 off 36) to give the visitors a strong start. Athanaze believed the wicket remained good for batting throughout and credited his bowlers for defending what seemed like an average total.

"To be honest, I feel it gets better as the game goes on. Normally, when you play at night, the dew helps the batting side. But I think we bowled really well. The bowlers hit their areas perfectly," said Athanaze, adding that his team will be eager to "finish with a 3-0 result in the series."