New Zealand in Bangladesh 2013

A new hectic cricket season is about to start, India and Australia will be playing ahorribly long 7 match ODI series, England and Australia wwill resume battle by the end of the year, Pakistan and South Africa will battle it out in the UAE, India may or may not tour South Africa at the end of the year, West Indies are scheduled to tour India in about the same time.
But it is New Zealand and Bangladesh who are kicking off the new season. New Zealand will be playing 2 tests, 3 ODIs and 1 T-20I during their 1 month tour.
Bangladesh have just declared their first test squad. Young opener Anamul Haque is recalled after he missed the Zimbabwe series due to exams, and Naeem Islam returns after injury. There is a recall for ODI regular Abdur Razzak to the test squad after 2 years. Young Marshall Ayub's consistency has been rewarded with his retention in the squad.
Bangladesh squad for the first test.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-new-zealand-2013-14/content/current/story/676199.html

The New Zealand test squad is without Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee and Martin Guptill due to injuries, though Southee is expected to be fit for the limited over leg of the tour and is named in the ODI and T-20I squads.
Test squad.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/story/668923.html
Limited over squad.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh-v-new-zealand-2013-14/content/story/671931.html
In between on the high-profile and hyped up tussles, power games in big board rooms and all kinds of controversies, hoping for some exciting cricket in a low-profile series.

The first test underway today.
New Zealand are batting, and they have given test debuts to all-rounder Korey Anderson and legspinner Ish Sodhi. Bangladesh have brought in Marshall Ayub for a debut test, and there is a recall for left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak who is playing a test after 2 years. Mahmudullah, deputy to skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is dropped as his test form has been rather inconsistent of late.

New Zealand are 93-1 at lunch with Peter Fulton batting on 38 and Kane Williamson on 15. Hamish Rutherford is the man out for 34. Sohag Gazi took the only wicket for Bangladesh so far.

New Zealand going strong at 141-1. Fulton on 55, and KW quickly catching up on 46.

New Zealand continue to dominate, 172-1, Fulton 70, KW 62.

Bangladesh has a 2nd wicket, Nasir Hossain gets Fulton for 73. Taylor joins Williamson.
NZ have moved along to 191-2.

Shakib's having a bad day so far, he has bowled only 6 out of 67 overs so far, hasn't taken a wicket and has gone at 5 an over. Bangladesh need their best bowler to find his A game soon.

Msp - I don't know enough about Bangladesh and New Zealand cricket to meaningfully comment (prompting the cry "that doesn't normally stop him!") but thought you might like to be reassured that your thread is being read with interest. Thanks.

I haven't seen any of today's play (not on TV in the UK I don't think, not even on one of the Asian channels) but I'd suggest Bangladesh would have hoped to go better on the first day of a series against a side with little practice in these conditions.

Slow-going from NZ but, barring a dramatic collapse, the Bangladesh win is being taken out of the equation...

guildfordbat wrote:Msp - I don't know enough about Bangladesh and New Zealand cricket to meaningfully comment (prompting the cry "that doesn't normally stop him!") but thought you might like to be reassured that your thread is being read with interest. Thanks.

Thanks Guildford
I really enjoy following Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The powers that be are just confining themselves to the big 4, at least us cricket lovers should go beyond that and hope for our cricket family developing further.

Shelsey93 wrote:I haven't seen any of today's play (not on TV in the UK I don't think, not even on one of the Asian channels) but I'd suggest Bangladesh would have hoped to go better on the first day of a series against a side with little practice in these conditions.

Slow-going from NZ but, barring a dramatic collapse, the Bangladesh win is being taken out of the equation...

A really disappointing day for Bangladesh for sure, they'd have certainly hoped for more.

Kane Williamson gets his ton and going strong, and Ross Taylor is looking settled. The only thing Bangladesh managed to do well today is that they haven't let NZ score very quickly though they didn't lose too many wickets.
And just as I type, Ross Taylor is gone, comeback man Razzak with the wicket. NZ 244-3.

A couple of late strikes, one from Shakib Al Hasan, and one from Abdur Razzak to dismiss Kane Williamson and skipper Brendon McCullum respectively, in the 2nd last and last overs of the day saw Bangladesh bouncing back to end the day on an even point. New Zealand lost 3 wickets in the last hour and ended the day at 280-5.
There is some batting left though There is the debutant Anderson, and then there is wicketkeeper BJ Watling. The bowlers Bracewell and Martin can also bat, and debutant leggy Ish Sodhi too is capable of scoring a few runs. But Bangladesh will certainly take 5 top order wickets on the first day on a pitch that is on the flatter side.

Thanks for the thread msp.

Really good comeback from Bangladesh at the end of the day, New Zealand finishing on 280/5. Not sure it's that slow going particularly on a slow pitch.

Crucial first session tomorrow, Bangladesh will be hoping to dismiss NZ in the area of 350 which gives them a chance if they can bat well (NZ's bowling looks a little short of quality in the absence of Southee and Vettori, with the caveat I don't know anything about their debut spinner). NZ will look to get beyond 400. Wattling is a good player so his wicket is key. The other guys are bowlers or bowling all-rounders it would seem.

I don't know which channel is broadcasting this series, only got the status of the match from cricinfo and this thread, thanks to MSP. On the overview, NZ started quite decently, with top order taking full use of pitch and bit shaky bowling attack, but late strike by BD has brought them in the game. I can't say that BD is in good position neither do NZ. Tomorrow morning will be crucial. If NZ can get past 370, it would be a decent first inning score and BD will look to restrict them to 330 or below.

Mike Selig wrote:Thanks for the thread msp.

Really good comeback from Bangladesh at the end of the day, New Zealand finishing on 280/5. Not sure it's that slow going particularly on a slow pitch.

Crucial first session tomorrow, Bangladesh will be hoping to dismiss NZ in the area of 350 which gives them a chance if they can bat well (NZ's bowling looks a little short of quality in the absence of Southee and Vettori, with the caveat I don't know anything about their debut spinner). NZ will look to get beyond 400. Wattling is a good player so his wicket is key. The other guys are bowlers or bowling all-rounders it would seem.

Mike Young Ish Sodhi is rated highly by the likes of Dan Vettori. But his record so far is pretty average, 27 wickets from 14 first class games at a very high average.
I have a feeling Martin's containing spin bowling, at which he's quite good, might test the Bangladesh batsmen some of them could get into a trigger happy mode every so often.

The pitch is quite flat, and New Zealand lower order can bat, so I think Bangladesh would take anything under 400 from here on.

Good to see Corey Anderson in the Test side. No less a batsman than Brownlie and offers something with the ball. Allows NZ to play 2 spinners. Excited to Ish Sodhi. For a country not traditionally renowned for spin, NZ have 3 prospective legspinners ATM in Ish, Tarun Nethula and Todd Astle. I really hope at least a couple of them come along as it'd complete the NZ attack (their seam attack is already very, very good).

ShankyCricket wrote:Good to see Corey Anderson in the Test side. No less a batsman than Brownlie and offers something with the ball. Allows NZ to play 2 spinners. Excited to Ish Sodhi. For a country not traditionally renowned for spin, NZ have 3 prospective legspinners ATM in Ish, Tarun Nethula and Todd Astle. I really hope at least a couple of them come along as it'd complete the NZ attack (their seam attack is already very, very good).

Corey Anderson scored a ton against India A recently and has an overall First Class average of around 37. But I think his bowling is more parttime stuff at the moment.
Think Tarun Nethula is not in the selectorial frame as much as he used to be. Todd Astle never got a fair run in the side, he didn't disgrace himself in the limited chances he got with the national side, yet they went for Martin, who to his credit, despite possessing limited skill set, hasn't disgraced himself either.

As Dan Vettori is more or less done as a test bowler, NZ need one of these emerging spinners to get going at the highest level pretty soon.

i love cricket and follow a lot of first class and club and cricket and poitics and news related to cricket and gossip and masala matches and kanga leage and BCCI corporate trophy ibut have never felt motivated or excited to follow BD cricket in any form.

they are so pathetically undeserving of playing any international cricket

KP_fan wrote:i love cricket and follow a lot of first class and club and cricket and poitics and news related to cricket and gossip and masala matches and  kanga leage and BCCI corporate trophy ibut have never felt motivated or excited to follow BD cricket in any form.

they are so pathetically undeserving of playing any international cricket

We are in 2 entirely different leagues in that case. Bangladesh have certainly been inconsistent over the last 12 years of playing test cricket. But I want to see the range of the cricket world increasing, and Bangladesh have improved as a limited overs side, and there are a few good signs in the longer format as well over the last couple of years. There is a long way to go yet, but they need all the support for that. Bloody BCCI haven't even invited them for a 2 test series to India as yet while they have all the time for atrocious 7 match ODI series borfests.

KP_fan, you are correct in saying Bangladesh's performances have been disappointing.

But I'd argue the reasons for that are primarily some terrible decisions by the ICC.

First, to effectively promote them from amateur cricket to playing a full schedule of FTP matches with no intermediary period. The WCLC and associated competitions form a fairly effective semi-pro level now but back then the shift was huge. To suddenly play Tests against Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath was a huge step. Having to do that negatively effected their cricket as a culture of losing developed...

... Then, in more recent years, they have found themselves neglected. Long periods go by with no cricket - they can't play Ireland and Afghanistan competitively (losing wouldn't look good at the ICC) and, after largely following the rules introduced in 2000 until about 2008, the top eight have started to basically ignore the FTP. Tours have virtually dried up (except to Zimbabwe). As I say there are long periods with no cricket at all, so every time they come to play Tests they have to re-adapt. They only get two Tests so by they've lost the first Test they have very little to play for...

There are also issues in the Bangladeshi system, of course. Domestic competitions are chaotically and carelessly scheduled. Meanwhile financial incentives mean that the professional one-day competition (the Dhaka Premier League) attracts a higher calibre of player than the official provincial competitions. Outside Dhaka and Chittagong - themselves with slow pitches - conditions are incomparable to those encountered at international level.

That said I do think the team has got better in recent seasons, though they've wasted the chance to show that on the world stage, perhaps for the reasons outlined above.

In between BD has successfully eliminated two this morning. But now Watling and Bracewell look settled. NZ aiming to get 370.

Current partnership is 55 now. NZ lower order seems to be enjoying batting on this dry wicket after the BD's attack this morning. Bracewell inching slowly towards his best test score of 43. I hope they will be standing on the ground till lunch.

At lunch, Day 2

NZ 378/9(129)
Watling 58, is batting superbly and is well supported by Boult.

Having one the first session of the2nd morning, Bangladesh are now facing up to an unbroken 82 run partnership for the last wicket between BJ Watling and Trend Boult. From 342-9, the've taken the side to 424-9.

The partnership crosses hundred, NZ go pass 450. Bangladesh looking rather listless.

Now Boult goes to 50 as well. Watling closing in on his hundred, 87 not out at the moment.

Watling gets his ton, and then gets out. Mominul Haque with the wicket as Watling is beaten by a turning ball to be stumped by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. That ends a 127 run partnership for the last wicket that took NZ from 342-9 to 469 all out. Watling 103, Boult not out 52. For Bangladesh, Abdur Razzak took 3 wickets, while Shakib Al Hasan and Sohag Gazi took 2 each. Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain and Mominul took a wicket each.

And Tamim Iqbal goes first ball to put Bangladesh in further trouble.

And Marshall Ayub, the debutant from Bangladesh is in at 3, and he gets of the mark in international cricket with a couple of runs first ball.

The day gets worse for Bangladesh, they've lost their other opener, Anamul Haque as well, Brasewell gets him LBW for 3. Mominul joins Ayub. Bangladesh 19-2.

Despite the early losses, the Bangladesh batsmen are not holding back, Bruce Martin goes for 14 in his first over.

And 16 of Bracewell's next over. Bangladesh 44-2. Mominul on to 35.

Bangladesh 58-2, going along at 4.5 an over. Mominul on 44, Ayub on 9.

Hi msp - just from looking at the scores and reading the posts above, there seems to be a similarity with how New Zealand got on in England this summer - only that Bangladesh are now playing the role of the underdog.

Generally, New Zealand held their own pretty well against us, only for the wheels to come off in the odd session which cost them dearly. Fast forward to now and I would have thought that Bangladesh would have been pretty content to have dismissed New Zealand for around 350. That certainly looked feasible when the Kiwis were 342-9. However, that disastrous (from a Bangladesh point of view) last wicket stand of 127 will almost certainly now be a match and morale turner.

Cliche, I know, but shows again that in Test cricket you have to be near the top of your game in every session of every day. I'm probably not giving enough credit here to the New Zealand last wicket pair but still feel the point is valid and fairly made.

Bangla Desh played really well at the end. Mominul Haque played really well for his 77. Young Ayub played a key supporter role here. BD 103-2(26).

guildfordbat wrote:Hi msp - just from looking at the scores and reading the posts above, there seems to be a similarity with how New Zealand got on in England this summer - only that Bangladesh are now playing the role of the underdog.

Generally, New Zealand held their own pretty well against us, only for the wheels to come off in the odd session which cost them dearly. Fast forward to now and I would have thought that Bangladesh would have been pretty content to have dismissed New Zealand for around 350. That certainly looked feasible when the Kiwis were 342-9. However, that disastrous (from a Bangladesh point of view) last wicket stand of 127 will almost certainly now be a match and morale turner.

Cliche, I know, but shows again that in Test cricket you have to be near the top of your game in every session of every day. I'm probably not giving enough credit here to the New Zealand last wicket pair but still feel the point is valid and fairly made.

Very true Guildford.
But that has been the story with Bangladesh. They've had their moments in test cricket, last year they overtook a West Indian total of 500 and where in with a great chance to win after bowling the WI out for a lowish score 2nd time round. But they just aren't used to winning, panick set in and ended up losing the game. Bowling NZ out for 350 would have certainly been advantage Bangaldesh on this track, but then they were confronted with a superb innings from BJ Watling, and terrific support act from Trend Boult. But Bangladesh did lose a bit of focus, a bit of intensity after picking up a few early wickets and the 2 NZ batsman were good enough to make use of that.
Bangladesh again made a bit of a comeback after that partnership and 2 early wickets in their own innings, but there is a long way to go as yet.

msp83 wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Hi msp - just from looking at the scores and reading the posts above, there seems to be a similarity with how New Zealand got on in England this summer - only that Bangladesh are now playing the role of the underdog.

Generally, New Zealand held their own pretty well against us, only for the wheels to come off in the odd session which cost them dearly. Fast forward to now and I would have thought that Bangladesh would have been pretty content to have dismissed New Zealand for around 350. That certainly looked feasible when the Kiwis were 342-9. However, that disastrous (from a Bangladesh point of view) last wicket stand of 127 will almost certainly now be a match and morale turner.

Cliche, I know, but shows again that in Test cricket you have to be near the top of your game in every session of every day. I'm probably not giving enough credit here to the New Zealand last wicket pair but still feel the point is valid and fairly made.

Very true Guildford.
But that has been the story with Bangladesh. They've had their moments in test cricket, last year they overtook a West Indian total of 500 and where in with a great chance to win after bowling the WI out for a lowish score 2nd time round. But they just aren't used to winning, panick set in and ended up losing the game. Bowling NZ out for 350 would have certainly been advantage Bangaldesh on this track, but then they were confronted with a superb innings from BJ Watling, and terrific support act from Trend Boult. But Bangladesh did lose a bit of focus, a bit of intensity after picking up a few early wickets and the 2 NZ batsman were good enough to make use of that.
Bangladesh again made a bit of a comeback after that partnership and 2 early wickets in their own innings, but there is a long way to go as yet.

Looking Bangladesh for the last 10 years, I feel that, it's not like they have not got players of real class, but they have never used them nicely. All the time some pressure of being underdog led them to a freaky defeat. As msp mentioned they had a fair chance of winning the test match last year against WI, but they were out of character in the second inning. If we remember the first test match of this new brigade, They made a massive 400 in the first innings, thanks to Aminul Islam for his brilliant 145, but they lost their momentum in the second innings and lost that match. I always feel that this team has potential, only they need is a real back up, both from home board and ICC. Still they are just 13 years old and I hope they will improve more with time.  

Bangladesh end day 3 of the first test at 380-7 still trailing New Zealand by 89 runs in the first innings. For Bangladesh, overnight batsman Mominul Haque converted his 77 not out into an impressive 181. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim scored 67 and Nasir Hossain scored 46, before he played a rash shot rather uncharacteristically 4 overs before close of play, gifting Ish Sodhi his first test wicket. At close, Sohag Gazi is batting on 28, and Abdur Razzak on 1. For NZ, Bracewell and debutant Corey Anderson picked up 2 wickets each. Kane Williamson, who managed to provide better control than the other 2 spinners managed the big wicket of Shakib Al Hasan as well. Trend Boult couldn't add to his first ball wicket of Tamim Iqbal yesterday.

Sohag Gazi has the reputation of being a bit of a bowling all-rounder in Bangladesh cricket. He played a mature hand today, offering solid support to Nasir in a partnership that came after Bangladesh lost Mominul and skipper Mushfiqur on the same score. Razzak can also hold a bat for sure, and rather than trying anything fancy, they should try and stretch the innings as much as possible. If they manage to cut down the lead below 50, they are in with a good chance in this test even now.

I could not get through the stats for the day today, but looking at the score card on cricinfo, it seems BD's batsmen have played with real matuarity. A 70 runs from here will take them close to the score and if they could bowl well in the second innings tumbling NZ till 250 or less then BD will get a target less than 300, and looking at the immature bowling attack of NZ, I feel they can win.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:I could not get through the stats for the day today, but looking at the score card on cricinfo, it seems BD's batsmen have played with real matuarity. A 70 runs from here will take them close to the score and if they could bowl well in the second innings tumbling NZ till 250 or less then BD will get a target less than 300, and looking at the immature bowling attack of NZ, I feel they can win.

Nasir Hossain's fall just before close makes New Zealand the side with the little bit of advantage going into day 4. Nasir, despite his young age, is a very mature batsman who is an expert at batting with the lower order. Had he been around for day 4, I would have felt confident about Bangladesh taking a small lead even.

It is to be noted that the top 3 scores for Bangladesh in test cricket has come this year. Mushfiqur Rahim's double hundred and the now disgraced Mohammed Ashraful's 190 came against Sri Lanka in the same game early this year. Now Mominul has scored the 3rd highest score for a Bangladeshi in test cricket. 3 other batsmen, Nasir Hossain, Naeem Islam and Abul Hasan scored test hundreds in the last 12 months. Batting in general, and the lack of big scores in particular has been a significant problem for Bangladesh in test cricket, these signs are encouraging, hopefully they'll build on it further.

Good to see Bangladesh doing pretty well. New Zealand still have a slight edge, but a Bangladesh win may be a bit more likely due to the time left in the game, particularly if they can get even closer to NZ's score and then apply some pressure. The NZ batsmen could go into their shell a bit, and in general they're not the best players of spin.

Anyway an intriguing contest.

Sounds like another flat surface... Very disappointing!

Hopefully there'll be some life in the pitch on days 4 and 5.

An excellent unbeaten 101 from the number 8 batsman Sohag Gazi, with some able support from the number 10 Robiul Islam  who scored 33, has helped Bangladesh not only to cut down the New Zealand lead, but to take a first innings lead of their own!. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 501 after lunch, providing them a first innings lead of 32. While Trend Boult accounted for Abdur Razzak early in the morning, it was Bracewell who broke through the partnership between Gazi and Robiul by tempting Robiul into an ill-adviced hook. The debutant spinner Ish Sodhi took the last wicket of Rubel Hossain.
The way Bangladesh came back from the shock of that last wicket partnership between BJ Watling and Trend Boult, and their own terrible start to the innings has been wonderful. It is also important to note that other than skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, the 2 other senior batsman, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan failed with the bat, and despite that, Bangladesh scored over 500 in their first innings.
Bangladesh spinners can also take heart from the fact that both Kane Williamson and Ish Sodhi managed to turn the ball a bit. A few early wickets can now put New Zealand under some serious pressure.

New Zealand ended the 4th day of the first test at 117-1 with Peter Fulton batting on 44 and Kane Williamson on 28. They lost Hamish Rutherford for 32 to Nasir Hossain in his first over. Rain forced an early close to the day's play, and there is chance for some more rain tomorrow. With New Zealand effectively 85-1, a draw seems the most likely outcome.