AMINUL ISLAM: Bangladesh gave New Zealand a run for their money

Bangladesh lost the match but impressed their fans by their performance against New Zealand. New Zealand has been playing great cricket since the beginning of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and there is no doubt saying that after Australia, it is Bangladesh, who gave them the toughest fight in the field.

It seems like Bangladesh has just started to settle down in the tournament, playing the game with full potential. In my opinion, if Bangladesh had the opportunity to tour Australia, New Zealand before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and to familiarize themselves with the condition well, then they could put a better show.

Earlier this week, England’s decision to field first against Bangladesh was proven to be a wrong one. Because of this, New Zealand’s decision to field after winning the toss made surprised me even more. They almost paid for this decision, but ultimately survived.

New Zealand knew Bangladesh very well as an opponent and they did good homework, subsequently we saw how they used the new ball tactically to the left-handed openers. Bangladeshi openers have been struggling with away swing bowling and today’s match was not an exception. On the other hand, Bangladesh surprised New Zealand by opening with two left-arm spinners against two right-handed openers. This tactic worked well.

Martin Guptil's solid foundation made team Bangladesh losing the match, although they gave a tough fight till the end of the match. Earlier, another magnificent century by Mahmudullah helped Bangladesh build a fighting total of 288 which, in my view, was about 20 runs short on such a solid track of batting.

Tim Southee's and Trent Boult’s disciplined desciplined bowling did not let the openers play at ease. After the early fall of two wickets, Mahmudullah again took the driving seat to keep his team in the match. This man has become a symbol of consistency and has transformed into Mr Dependable of team Bangladesh.

Promising batsman, Saumya Sarkar's contribution is also remarkable to set a challenging target for New Zealand.

Bangladesh’s victory against England definitely raised their confidence very high, which was reflected in their performance throughout the match against New Zealand. Less of experience, compared to New Zealand was very much highlighted during the second half of the match.

In the absence of the regular captain, Shakib Al Hasan could have used his seamers more intelligently to prevent the batsmen from hitting big shots during the death overs. Two more overs from Rubel could change the match, just like his two magical deliveries in the last match.

At this moment there is no doubt on the fact that India has not got an easy opponent in the quarter-final. An energetic Bangladesh will face them with full of confidence in Melbourne. A huge crowd of 90,000 will witness another thrilling fight on 19th March in Melbourne.

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