Most of the Bangladesh top seven had been sucked in by the short Napier boundaries and aimed for 340 or more rather than building their way to 300.
Perhaps a long batting line up with all rounders batting until nine had also been a reason for being overly aggressive against the New Zealand quicks – hoping that one of them would fire.
Alas, it was not. A reckless batting show led to four wickets falling in the powerplay, before slumping to 6/94. Despite an 84-run stand between Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin, Bangladesh were bowled out for 232 – 70 runs short of a par score on a flat Napier pitch.
The Bangladesh bowlers were disciplined at first, but a lack of runs on the board gave Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls time to soak the pressure and accelerate when needed with ease.
Although they batted poorly, there were a few positives for Bangladesh and they shouldn’t panic and make wholesale changes heading into Christchurch on Saturday.
Soumya Sarkar looked really dangerous and wasn’t slogging in his 22 ball 30 but lost his cool following Mushfiqur Rahim’s dismissal. Mohammad Mithun’s ability to dig in under pressure and bat with the tail was impressive, showing faith in Mehedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin and rotating the strike.
With Shakib Al Hasan ruled out before the series started, Bangladesh were always going to miss his bowling more than his batting. You can’t win in New Zealand with four bowling options and hope batting all rounders and part timers can take the fifth bowling quota.
Mohammad Saifuddin showed his worth with the bat yesterday, but he’s not one of the best three quicks in Bangladesh. He would be better used as a genuine all rounder at seven chipping in with six or seven overs. Tamim Iqbal needs to play straighter like Soumya did when Boult was ripping in his outswingers from middle stump and Liton needs to move his feet more against the new ball.
Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah need to stop flashing outside off with hard hands, rather dabbing the ball to third man with soft hands like Mithun did. Batting coach Neil McKenzie will ensure that they don’t repeat these mistakes for the rest of the tour.
Christchurch has always been well known for its pace, good carry and the large square boundaries. I would make one change for the second ODI with Rubel Hossain coming into the side for Sabbir Rahman. This team needs to have the belief that they can bounce back and under the captaincy of Mashrafe Mortaza, they will believe they can.
Yes there’s no Shakib, but you made the Asia Cup final without him, knocking out Afghanistan and Pakistan in conditions more suited to them. A wounded tiger is someone you don’t underestimate which New Zealand will know. I’d like to say optimistic and say we’ll win but I’m tipping New Zealand to win a tight one on Sunday.
My Bangladesh XI for the second ODI – Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun Ali, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain.
You can catch the second ODI on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports on Saturday from 8:30am AEDT.
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