Can batsmen land a punch in Round 2?

All eyes will be on the batsmen after a disappointing showing in the first game when Bangladesh take on New Zealand in the second ODI at the Hagley Oval today, fighting to stay alive in the three-match series.

Tamim Iqbal and his men will not find much inspiration from Bangladesh's record at the Hagley Oval, which has been the case in all venues in New Zealand.

The Tigers suffered thrashing defeats in the two ODIs they played in Christchurch, losing by 77 runs and eight wickets back in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

On their latest sojourn, things have not changed much. In the first ODI in Dunedin the visitors were bundled out for 131, the first time they had been shout out below 150 since September 2018.

Bangladesh's top order, and in particular skipper Tamim, will have to come up with a better approach. Opener Liton Das and number three Soumya Sarkar also need to find a way to provide a solid start that has remained missing against the Kiwis in their own backyard.

A lot has been said over the seam-friendly conditions in New Zealand and the Hagley Oval is also expected to offer some bounce and swing for the pacers, and the home side will expectedly have an advantage on that front as Trent Boult broke the Tigers' backs with four wickets in the first ODI.

"Batters need to take more responsibility and all the players, from top to bottom, will have to give their best," said middle-order batsman Mohammad Mithun through a video message to the media yesterday. "There's always the discussion [about] where the game tends to slip away from us in the first 10 overs, especially in the batting department.

"Generally, pitches in New Zealand offer high-scoring games and definitely we have to score around 260-270 or else it's always difficult to put up a fight against New Zealand. No matter how the pitch behaves, we have to adjust to win the game and give something for the bowlers to defend."

It will be interesting to see whether the team management includes pace bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin in place of pacer Hasan Mahmud. Apart from that, head coach Russell Domingo might want to give one more opportunity to the batsmen who looked clueless and were prone to soft dismissals in the first game.

For the hosts, they will be without their experienced batsman Ross Taylor for the second consecutive game today after the right-hander suffered a hamstring tear while playing domestic leagues ahead of the series.

On a poignant note, Bangladesh will be playing in Christchurch for the first time since the horrific mosque shootings back on March 15, 2019, which the then touring Bangladesh team narrowly escaped. The third and final Test at the Hagley Oval between was cancelled due to the incident.