Outplayed and out-thought

Bangladesh's 77-run loss to New Zealand in the first ODI at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch yesterday should come as no surprise. After all, the Tigers had failed to get the better of New Zealand in New Zealand on seven previous tries in ODIs. What may have come as a surprise was that, after becoming a professional outfit that can dot the I's and cross the T's under the auspices of coach Chandika Hathurusingha and captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza since late 2014, yesterday Bangladesh looked thoroughly out of their depth and were outplayed in all departments by the home side.

New Zealand achieved their joint-highest total on the ground with the Tom Latham's 121-ball 137 and Colin Munro's 61-ball 87 powering them to 341 for seven. The match was pretty much decided when New Zealand rode on the blistering 158-run fifth-wicket partnership between the two to romp to a high watermark that Bangladesh had never managed in their 319 ODIs so far. Bangladesh's highest so far is 329 against Pakistan in 2014, and that took the stars to align for Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim with both in full flight.

Even when matches during Bangladesh's second coming as a truly competitive team since late 2014 is considered, as a batting group this team is more comfortable scoring around the 260-280 mark as they do not boast the late-order hitters teams like New Zealand, South Africa or Australia do. Therefore, even though Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Mushfiqur Rahim said before the tour that the batsmen's performance on unfamiliar pitches was paramount, it was the bowling that truly let Bangladesh down, and to a certain extent flattered the hosts.

If the Tigers are to get any joy from this tour, their bowlers will have to restrict a New Zealand batting order that is not fully settled, especially with an accomplished veteran like Ross Taylor sitting out. Bangladesh seemed to be on their way to doing that after getting two of the main batsmen in Martin Guptill and skipper Kane Williamson out without much damage, but at 158 for four in the 29th over with Williamson departing to Taskin Ahmed, it was New Zealand who seized the initiative and doubled that score without loss in just 17.5 overs as the bowlers wilted and ran out of ideas.

Taskin, though he took two wickets -- the late one of Luke Ronchi being the second -- was especially poor. He seemed carried away by the pace and bounce on offer and repeatedly bowled bouncers at Latham and Munro, both of whom dispatched them with minimum fuss over square leg and midwicket. Having been thus punished, there seemed to be no plan B from the right-arm paceman.

Shakib Al Hasan was once again the stand-out performer for Bangladesh, taking three for 69 from 10 overs before scoring a half-century that gave the large Bangladeshi contingent at the Hagley Oval something to cheer about. Even so, he was the bowler who suffered from two dropped sitters in the outfield -- one off the bat of Neil Broom dropped by Mahmudullah Riyad at long off and the other off Munro with Mosaddek Hossain doing the dropping. On both occasions, Shakib soon had his man, but that does not put the gloss on what was a below-par fielding performance from Bangladesh, with regular misfields also leaking runs. 

Mustafizur Rahman, making his comeback from shoulder surgery, was not at his full pace and that blunted the effectiveness of his slower balls. But he still did manage to outfox Guptill. Also, along with Shakib, he recognised the value of making the batsmen reach for the ball on the belter of a pitch and was rewarded with the wicket of Latham, caught behind, late in the innings. 

Chasing the total would probably have been beyond Bangladesh anyway, but the decisions with their batting order continue to raise eyebrows. Soumya Sarkar has done nothing of note in international cricket since his innings of 48 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 in March this year -- 12 innings ago – and is yet entrusted with the number three position based on an innings of 40 in a tour match against an inexperienced New Zealand XI. Meanwhile Sabbir Rahman, who averages 33.75 in four innings at number three, played at number seven and Mosaddek Hossain, who was unbeaten on a 44-ball 50 as Bangladesh's innings folded on 264 for nine after 44.5 overs, batted at number eight.

There is a lot to think about for Mashrafe and Co, not least what they will do if Mushfiqur Rahim -- who sustained a hamstring injury and had to retire hurt on 42 -- fails to recover in time for the second ODI in Nelson on December 29. Bangladesh have been making a habit of bouncing back and Nelson, where they chased 319 against Scotland in the 2015 World Cup, is as good a place as any. But on the evidence of the first ODI this may prove a step too far.