William Porterfield admitted Ireland ultimately paid the price for their shock ICC World Twenty20 opening defeat to Oman, after their tournament shuddered to a halt with a washout against Bangladesh on Friday.
After Tamim Iqbal powered Bangladesh to 94 for two in only eight overs, rain and lightning prevented a result in Dharamsala.
It meant Ireland tumbled out the competition in hugely frustrating fashion, but Porterfield said the scars of the Oman loss are the real reason his team will make an early exit.
“The disappointing thing for ourselves is the Oman loss," he said. "A lot of it is down to how we played on that day. The weather intervened today, there’s not a lot we can do about that, but we could have been better on Wednesday.
“It was still in our own hands to a very large extent but with the weather intervening it’s out of our hands. We missed a couple of chances. I don’t know what you put that down to but it’s not lack of preparation anyway."
Ireland's final match against the Netherlands, who are also out after their showdown with Oman was abandoned too, is a dead rubber, but Porterfield is keen to finish on a high.
With a one-day international series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan on the horizon this next summer in Malahide, the captain said it was a golden opportunity to prove Irish cricket is still growing and still in rude health despite this week's disappointment.
Of the Netherlands game he added: “Both sides are out of the competition so on paper there’s nothing to play for but it’s a T20 international at a World Cup, we’ve been under-par so far so we’ve got to put that right on Sunday.
“We've got to put performances in on the pitch as players at every major event, we know that. We’ve got four big games this year, two against Sri Lanka at home (Thursday 16 June and Saturday 18 June), and two against Pakistan at home (Thursday 18 August and Saturday 20 August).
"Those are game we have to win to put even more pressure on get more fixtures like that."
