Mashrafe says Bangladesh lost thriller against India in last three balls

A distraught Mashrafe Bin Mortaza thinks Bangladesh played all their cards right against India but things went haywire in the last three balls.

The Tigers restricted India to a 146-7 before the batsmen brought the equation down to 2 off 3 balls in final over at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday night.

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, who put Bangladesh on the brink with back-to-back boundaries in Hardik Pandya's final over, looked on course for a famous victory but threw their wickets away.

Bangladesh went on to lose three wickets in the final three balls of the match to fall agonisingly short.

"I think everything was alright till the last three balls…we just needed two runs. If we could have taken a single, the fielders would have come up, then maybe we could play a big shot," Mashrafe said after the match.

"When you need 11 from six balls you have to hit but when you need two from three, you have to be a bit calculative. This is definitely very disappointing."

But the captain was unwilling to hold any particular player responsible for the defeat.

"I don't blame anyone, not really. Like I said, playing a little bit sensibly could have brought things our way but there is nothing to blame anyone."

Mashrafe, however, lauded his teammates for putting up a brilliant show.

"I think, barring the last three balls, we were outstanding all through the match. We did everything necessary to win the match.

"(Jasprit) Bumrah pegged us back in a couple of overs, bowling in the right areas while the shots also went to the fielders…but we still came back strongly. But unfortunately we could not finish the job."

Mashrafe also said that it was one of the biggest defeats of his career.

"Not just me, I think for all the players of the national team it is somewhat a shocking defeat as nobody wants to lose a match like this."