Adjustment key for Tigers
Coming from 26-degree Celsius temperature in Napier, where Bangladesh lost the first of three ODIs comprehensively by eight wickets, the challenge to adapt to testing New Zealand conditions continued for the Tigers as the visitors reached Christchurch for the second ODI yesterday.
The match will begin at 4:00 am (Bangladesh time) on Saturday.
It was quite chilly in Christchurch, compared to Napier, with the mercury nearing 16 degrees along with heavy wind and, to make things more unbearable, it was also raining every now and then yesterday.
The cricketers spent a rest day yesterday since arriving in Christchurch and the morale of the side is still high despite the comprehensive defeat as the players looked in relaxed mood.
It will be a huge task for visitors to acclimatise with the unpredictable Christchurch weather as there is rain forecast for tomorrow's second ODI, which Bangladesh will have to win at the Hagley Oval to stay alive in the three-match series.
Coming back to the skill, one of the major concerns for Bangladesh will be the batting department, with the Tigers at one stage struggling on 131 for seven inside 29 overs in Napier. But Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin added Bangladesh's record 84-run eighth-wicket stand to help post 232 before being bundled out with seven balls to spare.
More importantly it's the Tigers' top order with the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim, who struggled against the initial swing and movement from Kiwi pacers Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson.
The Tigers, however will get one more day to work on their mistakes as they are scheduled to practise today, ahead of the second ODI.
Mashrafe did mention after defeat in the first game that it's the batsmen who need to put up a decent total in order to give the bowlers something to fight with and the focus will be on providing a solid start at the top.
Another area that went unnoticed in the Tigers' defeat was the need to improve ground fielding and catching with Bangladesh fielders being far outperformed by the Kiwis.
There were quite a few fielding errors that helped the New Zealand batsmen to get settled despite the bowlers providing a tight start while defending a modest total.
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be looking to continue their dominance with comeback hero and the centurion in the first game Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls -- who scored a fifty -- after the pair added a 103-run opening stand for the hosts.
The Kiwi fast bowlers will once again test the Tigers' batsman with sheer pace and swing as the fast bowlers accounted for seven Bangladesh wickets in the first game.
Bangladesh has never won in New Zealand at any format of the game yet and to change that the visitors needs to pull up their socks in every department to re-write the history ahead of the upcoming ICC World Cup campaign later this year in England.
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