Joty shrugs off four dropped catches and a missed run out, points finger at batting for India loss
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty placed the blame for her side's 40 run semi final defeat to India squarely on the batting unit, despite fielders dropping four catches and missing an easy run out chance during the match at the Women's Asia Cup.
Bangladesh's campaign came to an end after being bowled out for 109 in reply to India's 149, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side becoming the first team to secure a place in the final, where they will face the winner of Pakistan's semi final against Sri Lanka.
Speaking at the post match press conference, Joty pointed to a recurring issue within the batting group rather than any single failure on the day.
"This has been a problem for us for a long time, a visible issue. I think the one thing I'd point to is consistency. Whoever scored runs in the last two games didn't score this time. That lack of consistency really cost our team," she said.
She contrasted that struggle with what she saw as a strong showing from the bowlers throughout the tournament.
"Our bowlers have been doing really well in the last three games. But we're struggling with the batting, so we really wanted to give our bowlers the platform, bowl first and give ourselves a total we could chase down. We thought the pitch would play a bit slow, since we'd already played three matches on it," she said.
Bangladesh had made an early breakthrough by removing Smriti Mandhana, but Joty felt the missed opportunities that followed proved far more costly to the eventual outcome.
"It wasn't just about Smriti Mandhana. We had plans for every batter, especially the top order, because they've been very consistent and scored heavily in recent games. We created chances too. Shafali Verma was dropped at long on in just the second over, and she went on to make the most of it. If we'd held that catch, things might have looked very different," she said.
Despite those missed chances, Joty was quick to praise her fielding unit's overall effort, choosing not to dwell on the individual errors during the innings.
"It's very disappointing, because fielding is the one area where we'd genuinely improved over the last three games. Whatever happened with the bat or the ball, we fielded really well throughout. That's what makes this hurt more, because it's the one department where we'd been better than the other two," she said.
Our bowlers have been doing really well in the last three games. But we're struggling with the batting, so we really wanted to give our bowlers the platform, bowl first and give ourselves a total we could chase down. We thought the pitch would play a bit slow, since we'd already played three matches on it.
Nigar Sultana Joty, Bangladesh captain
Joty explained that Bangladesh's plan had been to keep India closer to 130 runs, believing the spinners had executed their roles effectively during the middle overs.
"I think our bowlers bowled really well. We just leaked too many runs in the last three overs, and they batted brilliantly through that period, with Richa and Harmanpreet both playing really well at the death. Through the middle overs, though, I think we kept them under control, because the spinners stuck to their plans," she added.
She acknowledged, however, that the eventual total slipped beyond that target as the innings progressed.
"We lost control in those last three or four overs. If we'd managed to keep them to around 130 or 135, the situation facing our batters would have looked very different," she said.