In their bid to stay alive in the three-match series, Bangladesh will take on New Zealand in the second one-day international at Saxton Oval in Nelson in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The penultimate ODI clash starts at 4am Bangladesh time and will be shown live on Nagorik TV.
The Tigers lost the rain-hit first game by 44 runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, a defeat that extended their losing streak to 17 in ODI format on New Zealand soil.
But unlike other times, the men in red and green pushed the Black Caps hard in the opener, indicating that the series will not be a one-sided one.
The DLS method and rain actually affected Bangladesh's strategy a great deal.
After the encounter was first reduced to 47, at least two bowlers were allowed to bowl 10 overs and the plan was designed that way.
Pacer Shoriful Islam swung the ball admirably and initiated a double strike in the first over, which left the Kiwis 5/2.
Then when Will Young and Tom Latham were rebuilding the innings, captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto used the pacers in a desperate move to break the partnership.
But inclement weather again eventually shortened the game to 30 overs and by then, the main bowlers had already bowled five or six overs.
After the tie was reduced to 30 overs, it meant one bowler could bowl maximum six overs.
As a result, Bangladesh had to use part-timers like Soumya Sarkar and others in the death overs, which played to New Zealand’s favor as they clubbed 145 runs in the last 12 overs.
In hindsight, Shanto should have deployed his bowlers keeping the rain factor in mind.
But at the same time, the batters showed dismal performance yet again.
As has been the case, the Bangladesh players found way to throw their wicket in innovative way on a good pitch.
The likes of Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim, the two most experienced batters of the side, played wretched shots to gift their wicket when they had the chance to close out the game.
Anamul Haque opened the innings and played a 39-ball 43 to keep the required run rate under control but like other Bangladesh batters he too did not to make the innings longer after getting set.
He pointed out this thing if Bangladesh are to level the series.
"It's my fault for not making the innings longer. In fact we have to be careful to prolong the innings once we get set in the crease," said Anamul after the series opener.
He also emphasized on coping with the bounce that the Kiwi bowlers could generate due to their height.
"We have to adjust with the bounce. All of them are tall and due to their height they got extra bounce, which mainly caused our dismissals. Hopefully we learn quickly to deal with the bounce."
