Bangladesh lost the second ODI against New Zealand as the hosts chased down 272 with 10 balls and five wickets in hand. The Kiwis were 53/3, but Bangladesh missed their chances and paid the price.
Bangladesh have won just one international match in New Zealand and have suffered 28 losses. Their only win came in the 2015 World Cup against Scotland. In fact, that was the only game they did not face New Zealand. All their 28 losses across formats in New Zealand came against New Zealand, and 15 of those were in ODIs.
Tamim Iqbal and Co. were annihilated in the first ODI as they were skittled out for a mere 131 batting first, and New Zealand chased it down in 21.2 overs. It had seemed like another 3-0 whitewash was inevitable, and the hosts would roll through Bangladesh in the remaining two games as well.
However, Bangladesh put up a valiant effort in the second ODI at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The batsmen stood up well and racked up 271 for 6 batting first. Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Mithun scored 70s while Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim chipped in with 30s. The bowling was spot on as well and reduced New Zealand to 53/3 in the 11th over.
A 113-run stand between skipper Tom Latham and Devon Conway shifted the momentum. But Bangladesh also dropped multiple chances. They dropped Latham thrice, including two in the space of five balls, following which the stand-in skipper went on to score an unbeaten 110 of 108 balls to take his side home.
Jimmy Neesham was also dropped once early on in his innings and scored 30 off 34 balls. Bangladesh were left ruing the dropped chances. Skipper Tamim Iqbal echoed the same thoughts. He felt the visitors had a solid opportunity to win the game.
We couldn’t have had a better opportunity. It was something we should have won. Such opportunities do not always come outside your country. The way we batted today, the wicket was a little slow and difficult. 271 was definitely a good score. The way we started with their three wickets for 50 runs. Then the game was almost under control but we missed two chances.
If we could’ve taken those chances then we could have won this match. We were thinking of nothing but to win and were disappointed that we could not take advantage of such an opportunity. I think missing those two catches was the turning point of the game,
Iqbal said.
Bangladesh and New Zealand play the third and final ODI on Friday, March 26th, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
