New Zealand Pacers Destroy Bangladeshi Batting
After a disappointing Asia Cup Bangladesh had the opportunity to give one of their best performances versus New Zealand. Just like the previous encounter this was another underwhelming performance by the Bangladesh batters. Bangladesh were once again bowled out for 171 inside 34.3 overs. Except for their stand-in skipper Shanto none of the batters made any contribution to the score.
The second innings saw the Kiwis chasing the target comfortably with great half centuries from Will Young and Henry Nicholls. This also led to New Zealand winning the series 2-0 beating Bangladesh at home. With the World Cup just around the corner it is time for the Bangladesh batters to give better and more consistent performances.
This has been a major issue in the Asia Cup as well where their batters failed to convert their starts. With not a lot of big scores from the batters has also led to the team total being under par.
Bangladesh's Wickets Tumble: A Tale of Collapse
Fall of Wickets, X-axis: Overs, Y-axis: Wickets
The Kiwi pacers did an incredible job on a surface that was slightly slow. However we cannot say that the Bangladesh batters had the right approach as well. The first wicket of Zakir Hasan though was a nice in-dipping yorker, he still played across the line which cost him his wicket. The dismissal of Tanzid Hasan was of another good delivery from Boult, but it was still an unnecessary poke from the batter who edged it to first slip.
The dismissals of Hridoy and Mushfiqur rahim were examples of poor shot selections. Hridoy gave a simple catch to cover point where he played with hard hands and slicing it straight into the fielders hand and Mushfiqur just chopped a straight and shortish delivery onto his stumps. Dismissals of both Mahmudullah and Mahedi Hasan who were looking good to form a partnership with the set batter in Shanto were again victims of poking a ball outside off stump.
These were crucial wickets as another 20-30 runs from both these batters would have got them to a decent total. The next few wickets were where the spinners came to the party. Shanto, who was running out of partners, attempted a reverse sweep on a ball that just went straight on. This was the last straw for Bangladesh as he was the only batter looking good and was also the last recognised batter.
The next two dismissals were typical tailender shots where Hasan mahmud played the wrong line and Nasum Ahmed got stumped on a quicker and flatter delivery. The last dismissal was just an attempted hoik which Shoriful Islam sliced for an easy catch to cover.
Conclusion
This match was an eye opener for Bangladesh batters on how they have been approaching the One Day game. With batters struggling to score runs and not converting starts will not give them enough confidence in the future. Another major concern for Bangladesh is also that their senior players have been struggling as well.
With only Shanto being the only consistent performer will not be enough to score big totals unless the other batters step to the plate. In conclusion the Bangladesh batters have to think about what will be the correct approach to the game going into the World Cup. With only 10 days left for them to start their proceedings in the World Cup they have to solve the Batting puzzle as soon as possible.
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