Bangladesh captain Liton Das said the lack ability to prolong the innings hurt them in the first T20 against Sri Lanka, which they lost by seven wickets at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Despite getting a good start from opener Parvez Hossain Emon, Bangladesh failed to carry on in same vein and was restricted to a modest 154-5. Sri Lanka chased down the target in 19 overs with Kusal Mendis hitting 51 ball-73.

He and his opening partner Pathum Nissanka who played a marauding 16 ball-42 runs knock added 78 runs in just 28 balls in their opening stand to take the game away from Bangladesh.

“The wicket looked pretty good, but a couple of balls kept low. We`re very disappointed,” Liton said after the match.

“Whoever batted well, needed to keep going. I thought it was a pretty good wicket to defend a chase on, we have a good bowling side.”

According to Liton a total around 170 could have given the bowlers some cushion to make the match competitive one.

“170 would have been a good score for our bowlers, they weren`t good today,” Liton said, indicating the performance of bowling spearhead Taskin Ahmed who leaked runs generously and ended with giving away 43 runs for no wicket in three overs.

Liton said a bowler can have a bad day but he was happy for legspinner Rishad Hossain who offered control and gave batters some torrid time with his googly.

“Taskin is our leading bowler but we understand anyone can have a bad day. Rishad has been improving a lot for us,” he said.

“He (Rishad) bowled really well. In this kind of wicket if you bowl in the right area, it`s more difficult for the batters to adjust."