Opening woes plague Dhaka's campaign

At the post-match press conference on Saturday, Dhaka Dynamites coach Mickey Arthur was asked, repeatedly, to explain why they kept changing their opening batsmen. Nine players were used, none of them could score more than 86 runs in total and that, Arthur replied, summed up their BPL season - seven losses in 11 games.

"When we go into the draft [next time], we need to find some good opening batsmen," he said. "We didn't have any local opening batsmen and we needed to tinker around to find somebody there. It is easy to go at the start when the field is up. The real batting is done from overs six to 15 when the field is spread and the ball starts gripping. We needed to get our overseas players into those key positions.

"We thought it was tough through the middle and all the games have showed that if you don't get a really good start, you are behind the eight ball. We wanted the guys to get on with it. We wanted to be at 40 [after the Powerplay] then we wanted to have Hafeez, Sangakkara, Nasir, Mosaddek and Waller through the middle when it will be at its toughest. We were looking for a bit of a break at the start of the innings."

Dhaka began the competition with three wins in four games, but couldn't capitalise on that momentum. They slipped to three successive defeats but rallied to beat Chittagong Vikings and confirm a place among the top four. That was the high point, for thereafter they lost the final two league games and then the Eliminator as well.

Their bowling did reasonably well, their batting didn't click at all apart from the retired Kumar Sangakkara and Arthur conceded they couldn't have expected much more than what they got. "I signed with the franchise after the draft but if all things go well, maybe the owners have me back next year, I would start the planning for the franchise now. I like to find certain players, looking at key positions.

"I am not blaming a soul for those performances, because if we are brutally honest with ourselves, that is where we deserved to come in the competition."

Shutting down the Chittagong Vikings for just 76. Dhaka had made only 121 for 8 batting first, but then Nabil Samad was accurate at the top of the innings with Abul Hasan and Mustafizur for support. And Mosharraf Hossain's four-wicket haul sealed a comfortable victory.

Despite their six losses in the league stage, there was always the feeling that Dhaka would pick their game up at the business end of the BPL. So their 18-run loss in the Eliminator to Barisal Bulls was perhaps most disappointing. They fought back well after Chris Gayle's initial blitz to keep the target down to 136, but their batting, particularly the top order, was full of confusion and they ultimately paid the price.

Kumar Sangakkara finished as the tournament's highest scorer with 349 runs, and was the only player in the Dhaka squad who performed regularly. His captaincy was astute, and although he did use Mustafizur well, at times it looked like he needed to know the local players a bit better.

Nasir Hossain was the only player to appear in all eleven of their matches, but he averaged just 19.30 with the bat and his strike rate was a middling 102.65. As an icon player, more was expected of him.

Looking for a local-foreign opening combination will be at the top of their priority list, a stronger middle and lower order wouldn't go amiss. Bowling-wise, Dhaka should keep the same setup.