Another damp squib, this time in Napier brought Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand to an end on Saturday, December 17. This meant that the hosts won the ODI series 1-0, having emerged victorious in the first game in Wellington by 8 wickets. The second game also failed to produce a result because of rain. New Zealand would be disappointed as they were in good positions in both the second and third games, but the rain came in between them and a clean sweep. However, they would be happy with the fact that they did well with what was controllable.
Today, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to field first at Seddon Park. New Zealand’s openers, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates gave the team a good start, making 76 runs for the first wicket. Salma Khatun broke the partnership in the 16th over of the innings, getting rid of the skipper, Devine. Bates got to a half-century but lost her wicket soon after, to Ritu Moni who had the veteran batter caught by Lata Mondal. Amelia Kerr looked in good touch yet again but the game was halted with New Zealand’s score being 123-2. The rain did not allow for any more action and the game was called off.
Suzie Bates was named the player-of-the-series for her 153 runs which included two half-centuries. In the first game of the series, she made an unbeaten 93 to help her team comfortably chase down Bangladesh’s score of 181. In the second game, she was unbeaten on 9 but that game was also called off. As far as the bowling is concerned, Jess Kerr had a good series, picking up five wickets in the two games in which she got to bowl. In the first game, she was the star with the ball, picking 4 wickets for just 23 runs in her quota of 10 overs.
This brings an end to what was a tough tour for the Asian side which failed to win even a single game. In the 3-match T20I series that preceded the ODIs, Bangladesh was whitewashed in a dominant fashion by the hosts. They did show improvements after being bowled out for 32 in the first T20I but the lack of experience was reflected in their performances.
The next assignment for the two teams is now the T20 World Cup which will commence on 10 February. New Zealand and Bangladesh are both placed in Group A along with the likes of Australia, Sri Lanka and hosts, South Africa. The Bangladeshi side desperately needs to get its act together if they want to avoid another disastrous campaign, having lost all their games in the previous edition. New Zealand on the other hand will be looking to fine-tune things. The Kiwis narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot on the previous occasion.
