Bangladesh national cricket team reached Christchurch on Sunday for the second game of the ongoing three-match ODI series against hosts New Zealand.
Bangladesh had travelled to New Zealand with expectation to break the record of not having a won a game against New Zealand in New Zealand. The confidence was strong within the Bangladesh camp but as it happened, the tourists could hardly put up any competition in the first ODI of the series. Bangladesh following a disastrous batting performance that yielded just 131 runs in the first game at Dunedin on Saturday went on to lose the game by eight wickets against the hosts.
Debutant in the game, spin all-rounder Sheikh Mahedi Hasan in a video to the media said the team wants to forget the bitter experience from the first game and look forward to the remainder of the series.
“You need to score runs when playing in New Zealand. Scores around 260 to 280 are defendable against them. It is the responsibility of the batting unit to put that score on the board,” said Mahedi on Sunday.
Mahedi’s debut in ODI came on day when the team suffered a humiliating defeat despite big promises. Mahedi in the game however left a glimpse of his caliber opening his runs with a six off Mitchell Santner followed by a pull for a boundary against Trent Boult. The right-handed batsman however perished scoring only 14 runs and remained wicket-less with the ball.
“A player always tries to leave a mark in his debut game. I got to the ODI debut after playing cricket for so many years, so it is a memorable day for me. But it would have been better if I could have contributed well for the team and if the team had won,” said a frustrated Mahedi.
Bangladesh team travelled to Dunedin, the next venue for the series taking a five-hour road journey as many members of the touring party are afraid of bumpy flights which are common in New Zealand.
Bangladesh will lock horns with hosts New Zealand on Tuesday at Christchurch in the second ODI of the series while the third one will be played at Wellington on March 26. The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is to be played on March 28, 30 and April 1 in Hamilton, Napier and Auckland respectively.
