Tigers aim to avoid ODI whitewash

DHAKA – Emboldened by their improved performance, Bangladesh is looking forward to end the win-draught in New Zealand as they take on the hosts in the third and final one-day International on Friday.

The match starts at 4 am, Bangladesh Standard Time and will be aired live at the Bangladesh Television (BTV), Gazi Television and T-Sports channel.

New Zealand had already won the three-match series, following their eight- wicket and five-wicket victory in the first two matches, leaving Bangladesh still win-less on New Zealand soil. With those two defeats, Bangladesh’s
losing-streak on New Zealand soil stretched to 28 (14 ODIs, 9 Tests and 4 T20Is).

Despite their dismal record, Bangladesh came here this time with renewed confidence, largely due to their superb performance in the ODI cricket. But still they couldn’t figure out as to how they could win against the Kiwis in
their den.

The Tigers were simply outclassed in the first match as they were shot out for 131 runs and conceded an eight-wicket defeat. In the second match, they sensed a victory after racking up 271-6 and reducing New Zealand to 53-3 in
11th over. However, their sloppy fielding, coupled with missing some important catches cost the game.

Bangladesh might loss the second game but that indeed boosted their confidence to great degree that they could beat New Zealand for the first time on their soil. On paper the third game might be a dead-rubber but as the
series is the part of ICC ODI Super League, which will determine International team’s direct entry into the 2023 World Cup in India, there is nothing called dead-rubber.

In case of a victory, Bangladesh will not just avoid the whitewash but also gain 10 valuable points and 10 points on foreign soil means they will take a giant leap towards the direct entry to the 2023 World Cup.

But 10 points or avoiding whitewash is not in the mind of Bangladesh players, rather they are desperate to win a match in New Zealand.

As Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal said, they should stop talking about the improvements and concentrated only to win the game.

“We are not here to make improvements, we are here to win the match,” Tamim said after the second game, that was testament of his desperateness of winning match.

Tamim was the highest scorer for Bangladesh with 78 in the second game. Alongside him, Mohammad Mithun also stood up with a belligerent 57 ball-73 not out.

“As a team, we definitely want to win at least one match here. If we win just one game, it will be a good success for us. There is still an ODI to go and we will give our best. I think we still could win a game,” Mithun said, echoing Tamim’s voice.

Even though Bangladesh so far has not won any game on New Zealand soil, stat suggested they have been successful against this opponent, at least in ODI cricket. Apart from West Indies and Zimbabwe, New Zealand is the other
team against whom Bangladesh’s win record reached double digit figure. Out of 37 games, that they played against New Zealand, Bangladesh won 10 matches and lost so far 27.

But their all of those 10 victories came against New Zealand in neutral venues or in Bangladesh in 22 meetings, which meant, outside of New Zealand, Bangladesh remains a tough opposition for the Kiwis always.BSS