Bangladesh top order batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto believes that if he wasn’t out on 58 and could expand it, the fate of the game against England would have been different.

Bangladesh, who managed a sorry 209 thanks to Shanto’s fifty, eventually suffered a 3-wicket loss in the opener of the three ODIs against the world champions after their top order batsman David Malan hit an unbeaten 114 off 145 balls.

‘Yes, if I wasn’t out and could expand my innings further, it would have been a different game,’ said Shanto in the post-match press conference on Wednesday.

‘Yes, when we concluded with the innings, we realized that we lacked 30 to 40 runs,’ he added.

Despite managing a meager total, Bangladesh bowlers made a magnificent start that reduced the visitors to 103-5. However, they were unable to maintain their momentum, resulting in a narrow loss.

Still, the southpaw believes that with such a fine bowling attack, they had a chance to win it.

‘The way we started bowling as they [England] lost their five wickets for 100 when they needed a substantial number of runs, the bowling attack we had, I feel it was possible to win the game.’

He further accepted that 240 would have been a decent total at the surface of the SBNCS to clinch the tie.

‘I feel that 240 would be a decent score that we couldn’t manage. If it was 240-245, that would have been easier for our bowlers.’

The second match of the series will be played on March 3 at 12 p.m. at the same venue.