Tigers capitalise on unforgiving Mirpur

Bangladesh thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets in the first T20I yesterday as the in-form Tigers made the most of the conditions against a Kiwi side that found it hard to adapt on an alien surface at Mirpur.

The pitch had been one of the focal points leading up to the Tigers' five-match T20I series against New Zealand and, after the inexperienced Kiwi side were bundled out for their joint-lowest T20I total of 60, the pitch was once again in the limelight.

The Australia series had been a unique feat for the Tigers, ending in a 4-1 humbling for the visitors. Bangladesh's score of 131 for seven was the highest total in that series and it was tough going for batsmen on both sides, who found the slowness and the irregular bounce hard to deal with.

With the New Zealand series being the Tigers' last opportunity to gauge their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the T20 World Cup in two months' time, coach Russell Domingo had hoped for wickets that offered around 150-160 runs in order to get a better understanding of his squad's batting abilities.

While T20 cricket is usually played on wickets that produces runs, the pitches at Mirpur deviated from that trend. It would not be unusual for the home sides' batters to fare better on such wickets but it was still tough going and very difficult to judge their performances.

Replying to a question about the wicket after the match, ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's smile said it all.

"I think that the wicket was even more difficult than the Australia series in this first game. Still I felt that we were able to bowl in good areas," Shakib said.

The visitors' inexperience, exemplified by the fact that none of their squad will feature in the upcoming T20 World Cup, was clear to see. Often, they played their shots early, chipping it to fielders or struggled to adjust to the low bounce.

"New Zealand didn't have much experience of playing in these conditions so naturally they struggled a lot," Shakib reminded.

T20s may be viewed as a game of smash-and-grab shot-making, but Shakib emphasised the struggle of batting in these conditions further, saying: "The more you can focus on singles and put pressure with your running between the wickets here, the better it is. Hitting boundaries is very difficult so you have to be in a positive frame of mind to take singles and doubles. If you can get set and then capitalise on one or two bad deliveries, it will maybe be it is possible to score runs here," Shakib, who scored a team-high 33-ball 25, said.

"Very tough conditions, and the batsmen are going through a very challenging time, especially on such surfaces," Shakib said, driving his point home.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, it remains to be seen how such surfaces can help prepare the team for conditions where runs will be abundant.