NZ rue inconsistency

It will not be an overstatement to state that New Zealand probably expected to skittle the Bangladeshis out quickly after electing to field on a green top in the first Test.

After all, Bangladesh were playing their first Test overseas after more than two years and they had a horrible time in the limited overs matches. The Test seemed to be heading towards a similar direction once Imrul Kayes threw his wicket away in the morning session of day one.

However, the aggressive attitude by Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque on Day One and Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim yesterday, left the hosts in disarray. Their tactic of constantly bowling short-pitched deliveries backfired and it hurt their confidence. Their inability to bowl consistently on the second day, according to Kiwi pacer Tim Southee, was one of the main reasons why the Black Caps faltered.

“I think we bowled some good balls throughout, but I don't think we bowled or applied enough pressure for long periods. And that's where the credit should go to Bangladesh.

“If we were off by a bit, Shakib would cut it and the way Tamim played was similar. They had an aggressive mindset. If we missed, they would play their shots. And when two guys get in, it's going to be tough. A lot of credit should go to the way Shakib and Mushfiqur batted. I think our guys bowled well at times, but not long enough,” explained Southee.

“I guess throughout the day, there were a lot of times when we applied a bit of pressure and there were a few inside and outside edges that went astray. We tried hard throughout the day and got a few wickets towards the end. Hopefully, we can have a good night's sleep and come back strong,” he added. 

Early in the day yesterday, Southee, while attempting to run Shakib out during his follow through, hit Shakib's exposed ankle by mistake. It led to Shakib falling down and taking a breather. Both Southee and Shakib however played down the incident and did not really seem to worry about it too much.