'Knew it would be a good day'

At the end of the second T20I against Bangladesh, it was New Zealand batsman Colin Munro's century that made all the difference. While the wicket at Mount Maunganui was a belter yesterday, even on tracks like these a team needs at least one of their batsmen to bat throughout the innings to take advantage of these conditions.

Munro did that for the Black Caps with his 54-ball 101 whereas none of the batsmen from Bangladesh's ranks managed to go even close to Munro's feat.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Munro said he knew that yesterday was going to be a special day for him right after he middled the first ball he faced.

“The way I played, I tried to be aggressive early. When you hit a couple in the middle and you have a good strike, you know that it's going to be a good day. Today was one of those days when the first ball came out of the middle and I took it from there,” he said.

Munro became the third Kiwi to score a century in T20Is yesterday and his emphatic celebration suggested that the feat meant a lot to him.

“When I was at 95 or 96, I thought I don't know when I will get an opportunity to get a T20 century again. All those emotions came out in the end [after reaching the century]. When I saw it again, it did look a bit silly, but at that time all the emotions were coming out,” said Munro.

Despite having dominated Bangladesh throughout the series, Munro feels that the series cannot be described as an easy tour which the Black Caps were always expected to ease through.

“The credit should go to the way we have played. They are a good team. They have shown us what they can do. They have beaten some good oppositions and we can't take them lightly. Credit to our bowlers for the they way the bowled.

“They needed partnerships. I think they need to take it a bit deeper. Sabbir and Soumya were playing very well. If that partnership went for another three or four overs, we would have been on the other side today,” said Munro.