DHAKA -Bangladesh vowed to bring up their best game in a bid to stay alive in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand as they take on the hosts in the second match on Tuesday at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
The match starts at 7 am, Bangladesh Standard Time and it will be aired live at Bangladesh Television (BTV), Gazi TV and T-Sports channel.
The Tigers came up with disappointing batting show in the first ODI and lost the game by eight-wicket margin which was a blow to their ambition of doing well against New Zealand. Ahead of the series, Bangladesh announced
that this time they were better prepared and equipped to beat New Zealand on their soil in which they are yet to register any victory.
But they were nowhere near their best in the first ODI to materialize the promise. The defeat only stretched their losing-streak in New Zealand to 27 (14 ODIs, 9 Tests, 4 T20Is) across the format.
Nonetheless, they are reluctant to give up the hopes. The second ODI will give them the opportunity to rectify the mistakes what they had done in the first match.
Specially in batting they need regroup as captain Tamim Iqbal suggested after the first game. The captain urged the batsmen to take more responsibility in a bid to stay alive in the series.
“I thought there were too many soft dismissals. No doubt they bowled really well, but we have ourselves to blame,” Tamim said.
“We take pride in our batting and that was nowhere near enough. We had a couple of days here, I cannot complain about our preparation. It’s not new to us, we know what to expect. And we hope we put up a better performance,” he
added.
Above all, Bangladesh still believes that they are capable of making a turnaround despite being completely outplayed in the first game.
“We are not that bad team to lose a game like this (the first match),” Bangladesh’s young all-rounder Mahedi Hasan said.
“We want to forget what happened in the first game and focus on just for the second game now. Our team combination is very good and if we can perform to our potential, the result will come in our favour,” he added.
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 36 games, that they played against New Zealand, Bangladesh won 10 matches. 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.
“Our bowlers performed really well in the first game. Hopefully they will carry on that performance and the batsmen will come up with their best,” Mahedi said.BSS
