How a series against Bangladesh can count..

If the recently concluded one day series between Bangladesh and New Zealand is taken into consideration, scorecards of the matches suggests the way the performance of the New Zealand team has been deteriorating as the series progressed. In the first ODI at Napier, New Zealand were found playing the game with full excitement, when they beat the opposition by 146 after imposing a target of 339 to win and the Bangladeshi batsmen could hardly cross 200 runs on board. Then comes the 2^nd ODI at Dunedin where New Zealand reach the target of 185 in over 27 overs losing 5 wickets.

Then, in the 3rd ODI played at Christchurch, New Zealand as expected did beat Bangladesh by a margin which was in no means satisfactory. New Zealand lost 7 wickets en-route to their run chase of 244 runs for victory. In the first ODI, New Zealand did everything possible on earth to contain the Bangladeshi batsmen first to put up a mammoth score of 336 on the board and then bowl out Bangladesh for 190. Then, in the 2^nd ODI, the performance of the New Zealand team was comparatively below par. Though they won the game to take an unbeatable lead in the series, New Zealand should have bowled out the Bangladeshi batsmen all out; instead, Bangladesh played their full quota of 50 overs.

On the otherhand, New Zealand should have not lost 5 wickets to chase a target which was below 200. Finally, in the 3^rd ODI at Christchurch, New Zealand lost 7 wickets during their successful run chase of 241. For the first time in the tournament, Bangladesh could manage a total of more than 200. And, New Zealand had their worst win in the series when they lost 7 wickets. It is not an unknown fact that playing Bangladesh is just a formality and nothing else atleast as far as the New Zealand team is considered. But, now it is also a curse to play Bangladesh I suppose.

Hardly any team would take Bangladesh as a noted opposition though they are granted test status in international cricket. It is no big thing for any team to win or crush a team like Bangladesh. But, a loss against the same can make headlines. But, now a days, teams take a casual route to beat Bangladesh which at times are mistaken to be a tough fight imposed by Bangladesh which would not be the case actually. Teams have now started thinking wise when facing Bangladesh, with the batsmen thinking of playing some distinct shots against the Bangladeshi bowlers and the bowlers tossing the ball in a different manner to the Bangladeshi batsmen.

Teams rather than resting some of their key players have took to this sort of technique while facing Bangladesh. And, this could be more than a warm up game when New Zealand are set to face the Aussies next month.