 The first ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh will be played
at Napier on Thursday. The Kiwis had made a winning start on the tour, when they
crushed Bangladesh by a whopping ten-wicket margin in the one-off T20I. Bangladesh
were pummelled for a lowly 78 all out, and in reply, New Zealand surpassed the
total without loss.
The Bangladeshi side will need to hit their stride quickly if they want to
make a mark on this series. Already there had been talks of how the Bangladesh
Cricket Board President has reportedly not been happy with the performance of
the team and if the side does not make the ODIs count, it could get very difficult
for the side.
Click for Live Score Card of New Zealand vs BangladeshThe main problem that continues to haunt the Bangladeshis is with their batting.
They play a Test match like its an ODI, and an ODI and T20I like they are both
five over games! Even in the previous T20, that was exactly the issue, and one
hopes for the Bangladeshi sake that they are able to overcome the problem.
Tamim Iqbal has shown in the past that his form has been good in whichever
variety of the game, but the issue with the rest of the order is that they have
not been able to convert their starts. The biggest culprit - after Mohammad Ashraful - in the previous series was captain Shakib al Hasan, who missed
out despite having a lot of expectations from him.
There will be a pressure of a different kind on the New Zealand. They will
know that apart from weather interventions, it will be difficult to justify
anything less than a clean sweep in the series. While the pair of Daniel Vettori
and Brendon McCullum did extremely well in the T20I, they will need to
continue their good work and ensure that the tourists have no chance in the
series.
The batsman in form has been Ross Taylor, who went on a run-scoring
spree in the domestic T20 tournament. He did not get a chance to bat in the
T20I, but will be running his hands in glee as he takes strike to some of the
weakest bowlers around.
The bowling will revolve around Vettori, but one also gets the sense that the
quick bowlers will come into their own for the Kiwis given that the conditions
will suit them. Especially against a side which is used to playing on slow and
low wickets back home.
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