Lack of adjustment was a factor: Mashrafe

Playing the first ODI in testing New Zealand conditions less than three days after the full squad arrived, the lack of adjustment was palpable in the way Bangladesh's batsmen batted as the visitors fell to a comprehensive eight-wicket defeat against the hosts in Napier yesterday.

The Tigers' top order was unable to negotiate the initial movement from the Kiwi seamers and at one point were struggling on 94 for six inside 23 overs, but still managed to post 232 before being bundled out with seven balls left unplayed.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza did say that the lack of adjustment was a factor but was reluctant to use that as an excuse. Instead, he was positive about his top-order batsmen, who he hoped would play a big role in winning matches in New Zealand.

"There are always high-scoring games in New Zealand and batsmen play a big role, unless you have an extraordinary bowler. As we are already playing without Shakib, we need to put up a fighting total so that the bowlers can fight it out.

"I think 230-250 will be very difficult to defend as it's a true wicket. Our batsmen also have the ability and I believe there might be a lack of adjustment. It may sound like an excuse but to be honest there is a the matter of adjusting. Still, we have two more days before the next game and hopefully we will be able to give our best," Mashrafe told reporters after the defeat yesterday.

The 35-year-old pointed to poor shot selection and lack of patience from the batsmen as being one of the biggest reasons for the early batting collapse and wished for a better show from the top order in the coming games.

On the other hand, Martin Guptill, making a comeback to the side after his back injury, expertly showed how to negotiate the New Zealand pitch -- he was patient initially before picking up the tempo during an an unbeaten century to guide his side home without trouble.

"It has been a funny old summer. We haven't really had the flat wickets with good carry and bounce like in the previous years. So some of them have been quite hard work and you had to find a way to get through. Hitting through the line of the ball isn't much of an option sometimes.

"So if you can try to just rotate the strike and work with the guy at the other end and build a partnership, you can go a long way to setting up a large total or chase a big total down," said Guptill, adding that they had to work hard to score runs and gave credit to the Bangladesh bowlers, who initially kept things tight.