Tigers fall to abject defeat

The dejected look on skipper Mahmudullah Riyad's face said it all as he walked towards the press conference after an expected defeat in the second Test in Wellington by an innings and 12 runs which also cost the Tigers the three-match Test series against New Zealand.

It was expected in the sense that the stage was already set after the fourth day, with the visitors being required to bat through the whole fifth day in their second innings to at least draw a Test with seven wickets in hand against an in-form Kiwi bowling attack.

However, that situation was not anticipated when the first two days of the match were washed out without a ball being bowled and at one point, the game was expected to yield a draw with just three days of play on the cards.

However, as much as Bangladesh played poorly, credit must go to the hosts, who utilised every minute of the match -- be it with bat or ball.

Bangladesh's lack of adaptability in facing quality fast bowlers was exposed brutally yet again and, of course, the Neil Wagner factor once again played a big role as his short-ball strategy took a toll on the Tigers' batsmen.

He ended with nine wickets over the match, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings. From Bangladesh's perspective there was nothing to gain apart from the humiliation of losing a Test match in less than two-and-a-half days.

Bangladesh were nowhere near the home side in either of the three departments and it was their collective inability which led to the Tigers fighting for even a draw coming into the fifth and final day.

The visiting batsmen were unable to bat for more than two sessions in either innings and Mahmudullah blamed their lack of application for the defeat.

"I'm really disappointed because we did not apply ourselves well. A few of our batsman were caught in between playing a shot or leaving delivery. We did not commit and back ourselves," a disappointed Mahmudullah told reporters yesterday.

With the third and final Test scheduled to start from March 16 in Christchurch, an optimistic Mahmudullah however backed his charges by saying: "Maybe it will sound funny, but the team we have is capable of performing better. We have the ability to play better than we did in Hamilton [in the first Test] and here."

But as things have gone for Bangladesh in New Zealand so far, it will be a humongous task to finish the tour on a positive note.