***Official*** New Zealand in Bangladesh

[Somerset]

I bet Bangladesh are pretty pleased about the light stopping play. Gives New Zealand a chance but I still wouldn't be betting on a result. Mind you, if they lose from here, on this pitch, it'll be a sensational effort to throw away a test match, even by their standards.

 

[Polo23]

The only option for a possible result in two days of cricket on whats basically a road will be if Ashraful and Vettori come to some sort of agreement, and forfeit or declare innings with very few overs bowled, to set Bangladesh a target to chase to win the game - can't see it happening myself. What sort of run rate were you expecting? 3.5 is ok by me - heck, in the ODIs we struggled to get above 4 per over.

You seem to think we are playing Australia or something. We are playing Bangladesh, regardless of the pitch, if we bowl well we should take wickets.

I don't think we have left ourselves enough time to take 17 wickets on the last day, but if we had batted with more intent and scored that 260 runs in 55 overs (you seem to think it was a complete road, so it shouldnt have been difficult against Bangladesh) and then had 30 odd overs at Bangladesh in the afternoon we definitely would have had a big chance of winning the game.

We batted ok, but given the situation, and the position Ryder and McCullum got us in, we could have got those 260 runs a hell of a lot quicker. Again our lack of using our feet or the sweep shot hurt us. Flynn used his feet brilliantly towards the end, no idea why he wasn't doing that earlier in the tour.

What are you failing to understand here?

 

[IndGunner]

Hats off to vettori... gives a new meaning to one man team amazing stuff. really makes you wonder how they will go against Aus though. Poor vettori i hope they can pull it together cuz NZ beating Aus are some of my fondest memories of the late 90's and early 00's cairns harris et all gud stuff fond memories...

 

[Precambrian]

What does Vettori expect? Get the remaining 7 Ban wickets before they get to 67, and then again take 10 wickets?

Neverthless good try though.

 

[Bahnz]

I don't think we have left ourselves enough time to take 17 wickets on the last day, but if we had batted with more intent and scored that 260 runs in 55 overs (you seem to think it was a complete road, so it shouldnt have been difficult against Bangladesh) and then had 30 odd overs at Bangladesh in the afternoon we definitely would have had a big chance of winning the game.

Jeez, it's always half empty with you, isn't it?

 

[NZTailender]

What does Vettori expect? Get the remaining 7 Ban wickets before they get to 67, and then again take 10 wickets?

Neverthless good try though.

Pretty sure the follow on target is 100 less now since it's reduced, so we have to get them before 167...

 

[NZTailender]

Jeez, it's always half empty with you, isn't it?

Seems to get incredibly aggressive about every subject, too.

 

[Nutter]

Another Vettori 5-fer on the cards?

Man if Mills and O'Brien are the best seamers the country has got, we've got problems. Not that they're bowling badly, they just don't seem like getting anyone out.

 

[Polo23]

Jeez, it's always half empty with you, isn't it?

I'm speaking on the area I think we could have done better in. There were lots of positives I have ignored (Ryder looking fantastic, McCullum hitting some form, O'Brien again looking good, Vettori seemingly getting better and better, Flynn getting another half decent score). Considering our recent performances though, I don't feel the need to bang on about how great we are...I think this team has a lot of potential, and they arent realising it yet.

 

[Polo23]

Seems to get incredibly aggressive about every subject, too.

What do you mean? I'm just arguing my point. I'm neither passive nor aggressive. If you have a problem with the way I post, talk to me about it.

 

[Somerset]

You seem to think we are playing Australia or something. We are playing Bangladesh, regardless of the pitch, if we bowl well we should take wickets.

I don't think we have left ourselves enough time to take 17 wickets on the last day, but if we had batted with more intent and scored that 260 runs in 55 overs (you seem to think it was a complete road, so it shouldnt have been difficult against Bangladesh) and then had 30 odd overs at Bangladesh in the afternoon we definitely would have had a big chance of winning the game.

We batted ok, but given the situation, and the position Ryder and McCullum got us in, we could have got those 260 runs a hell of a lot quicker. Again our lack of using our feet or the sweep shot hurt us. Flynn used his feet brilliantly towards the end, no idea why he wasn't doing that earlier in the tour.

What are you failing to understand here?

As I said before, I thought the run rate was very acceptable. 260 in 55 overs would be completely against the trend of the scoring for the majority of not only the ODI series, but the first test. I dare say that if we went out with that sort of attitude, we'd end up in a position of 6 or 7/150-odd after 40 overs and then struggle to get past 200 (again, taking the trend of the series). If you want the batsman who get bogged down to throw their wickets away and waste opportunities out in the middle, great, but IMO the manner in which they batted was fine, at a good rate and most batsman had a decent knock (bar the openers).

I've nothing against the declaration, and in fact thought it was very well timed - I just didn't see the point in treating it like an ODI leading up to that. Sure we'll play to win, attempting to take 17 wickets today, and there is still an outside chance of a victory.

 

[Polo23]

As I said before, I thought the run rate was very acceptable. 260 in 55 overs would be completely against the trend of the scoring for the majority of not only the ODI series, but the first test. I dare say that if we went out with that sort of attitude, we'd end up in a position of 6 or 7/150-odd after 40 overs and then struggle to get past 200 (again, taking the trend of the series). If you want the batsman who get bogged down to throw their wickets away and waste opportunities out in the middle, great, but IMO the manner in which they batted was fine, at a good rate and most batsman had a decent knock (bar the openers).

I've nothing against the declaration, and in fact thought it was very well timed - I just didn't see the point in treating it like an ODI leading up to that. Sure we'll play to win, attempting to take 17 wickets today, and there is still an outside chance of a victory.

We didn't need to go out with the mindset of scoring 260 in 55 overs. We got in the position with Ryder and McCullum to really push the scoring rate up, but instead they went the other way, and the scoring rate plumetted, we were never going to be 6 or 7/150 odd whether McCullum and Ryder went for it or not. The runrate was acceptable, but not good enough to win a 2 day match, which is what I wanted to see from us.

Why does upping the scoring rate automatically mean throwing their wicket away? They didn't need to start slogging at every ball, but use of the feet and a more aggressive attitude would have been fine. We saw Flynn do exactly that towards the end of the innings with great success, why couldnt this have been implemented earlier?

 

[Bahnz]

I'm speaking on the area I think we could have done better in. There were lots of positives I have ignored (Ryder looking fantastic, McCullum hitting some form, O'Brien again looking good, Vettori seemingly getting better and better, Flynn getting another half decent score). Considering our recent performances though, I don't feel the need to bang on about how great we are...I think this team has a lot of potential, and they arent realising it yet.

Lets be honest though. It was never likely that we were gonna beat Bangladesh in two days. I'd say the batsmen would have benefitted more from just having some time out in the middle and building a bit of confidence. If Vettori manages to skittle them for under 100 and gives us a chance to win, well that's a bonus. But realistically the three days of rain always meant we were going to approach this as a bit of a practice session.

 

[Polo23]

Lets be honest though. It was never likely that we were gonna beat Bangladesh in two days. I'd say the batsmen would have benefitted more from just having some time out in the middle and building a bit of confidence. If Vettori manages to skittle them for under 100 and gives us a chance to win, well that's a bonus. But realistically the three days of rain always meant we were going to approach this as a bit of a practice session.

Of course it was unlikely we were going to win, but I would have liked to have seen us give it our best possible shot. I am certain a team like Australia would have been gunning for the win, no matter the circumstances.

I have no problem with the batsmen spending time in the middle and getting a bit of confidence, but after Ryder and McCullum got a few runs under their belt, and were looking comfortable, they didnt push on, and both ended up getting out. They didn't need to do anything stupid, or throw their wicket away (which ironically, is what McCullum did in the end) but a more positive approach would have been nice. I don't see how Flynn would gain any confidence from blocking out multiple overs.

Put it this way...had we scored at 4 runs per over we would have been able to declare 10 overs earlier...5 more overs of Vettori yesterday could have seen the Deshi's 6 down given the way he was bowling/they were batting. Now the Bangladeshi's would have had a chance to reassess and we may find it more difficult to take wickets today.

An interesting days play though.

 

[Days of Grace]

Day 5: Hello and welcome to Cricinfo's live coverage on the final day, the weather is wonderful for cricket. Can India New Zealand do it is the question in everyone's mind? Stay tuned to know.

 

[_Ed_]

Jeetan strikes! He really deserved that.

 

[_Ed_]

44-6!

 

[Somerset]

Candidate for the worst batting display of all time? This could get really embarrassing for the Bangladeshis. I wonder if Mills will even be used this innings, or whether Vettori will save him for the new ball when Bangladesh inevitably follow on.

 

[_Ed_]

Yeah it's been fairly poor batting, but to be fair the New Zealanders have bowled fantastically this morning.

 

[Somerset]

Ah right, I've only been listening to Bryan Waddle's updates today and every 20 minutes there seems to be another rush of blood from the Bangladeshi batsmen and another wicket down.