'We let ourselves down' - Simmons rues shocking Bangladesh collapse in warmup fixture

Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons lamented his batting unit failing miserably in the second innings of the three-day practice match against Cricket Australia XI insisting that the way the visitors surrendered in Darwin ‘wasn’t nice’.

Bangladesh’s top order struggled against rookie left-arm pacer Campbell Thompson, who claimed 8-25 as the visitors were bowled out for just 54 in the second innings on Saturday, losing the three-day practice match by an innings and 38 runs.

Bangladesh made 263 in their first innings before CA XI replied with 355. The visitors’ second innings lasted only 22 overs, with opener Tanzid Hasan’s 22 emerging as the highest score.

“I think we let ourselves down with the bat in this practice match, and you look at how we got out and it wasn’t nice,” Simmons said after the match.

Simmons believed, however, that there was enough time for his batters to address the problems exposed by the collapse ahead of the first Test beginning August 13.

“I think that we have three [four] days to work on what we have to do properly in the Test match,” Simmons said.

“And I trust that the guys are going to put in the work over these next three days to get us where we want to be for that Test match,” he added.

Despite the disappointment of the result, Simmons urged his players to quickly shift their focus towards the much bigger challenge awaiting them against Australia.

“Disappointing match, but we move on and we look forward to the Test match,” he said.

Meanwhile in some welcome news, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is recovering quickly from his finger injury that he sustained after being hit while batting on the opening day. Taijul did not take part in the rest of the game.

“The injury that Taijul sustained while batting day before yesterday is much better now, both swelling and pain have decreased,” Bangladesh national team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said on Saturday.

“The first Test is still five days away so we have four days in our hand. I am totally expecting he will be available by that time,” he added.

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