New Zealand defeated Bangladesh comfortably in the first match of Group D in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. Bangladesh would have started the match with a lot of confidence going by their performance in the Asia Cup and their recent history against New Zealand.
But as it turned out to be, Bangladesh were once again outplayed in a big tournament and their hopes of qualifying for the super eights received a major set-back. Being asked to bat, New Zealand put up a daunting total.
Bangladesh chasing a target of 192 runs were never in the game as their top-order collapsed without any fight.
Let’s have a look at some of the hits and flops from both innings.
New Zealand:
Hits:
Brendon McCullum: He is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the shorter format and he showed why. He came into bat at number three and timed the ball beautifully right from the first ball. He dominated all the Bangladeshi bowlers and thrived on every opportunity he got. He never allowed any bowler to settle scored at a rapid pace. McCullum became the only batsmen to have scored two international T20 hundred. He got out off the last delivery scoring 123 runs in 58 deliveries.
Kyle Mills: He is one of the most experienced Kiwi bowlers along with Daniel Vettori. Mills started brilliantly getting the wicket of the dangerous Tamim Iqbal in the very first over. He bowled at a perfect length and troubled all the Bangladeshi batsmen. He ended up with a figure of 3-33.
Tim Southee: Southee has been New Zealand’s best bowler in the past few series and he started off his World Cup campaign brilliantly with a figure of 3-16 from his our overs. Southee is New Zealand’s death over specialist and he played the role brilliantly.
Flops:
Daniel Vettori: Vettori is New Zealand’s most experienced bowler and a lot is expected of him. This proved out to be Vettori’s second weak performance on the trot. He was in-effective against the Indians in the recently concluded series and he went wicket-less in this match.
Bangladesh:
Hits:
Abdur Razzak: He was the only Bangladesh bowler who came up with a decent spell. He changed his length well and never allowed batsmen to get underneath the ball. He conceded only 28 runs and picked up two wickets.
Nasir Hossain: He is highly rated in Bangladesh and he showed why, Hossain came out with a positive mind-frame and pounced on any opportunity he got. His innings of 50 included six boundaries and one six.
Flops:
Shakib Al Hasan: He is Bangladesh’s number one player, but he had a disastrous outing in this match. He conceded 40 runs in his four overs and could only manage to score 11 batting at number three.
Tamim Iqbal: The attacking left-hander threw his wicket away trying to hit his way out in the first over. Bangladesh needed him to chase down the humongous total and he could have shown more maturity.
By Indian Sports News Network
