We are a better team than this: Mahmudullah

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad reiterated that the team is better than their performances in the last two Tests after suffering yet another innings defeat in the second Test against the Kiwis.

The defeat in the second Test was especially embarrassing given that Tigers succumbed even after the first two days were completely washed out by rain. It was not a particularly difficult pitch to bat on but yet Tigers capitulated under two-and-a-half days with Wagner's short-ball barrage once again dismantling the Bangladesh batting.

Questions will be asked regarding how much the team has really improved. Riyad said that the team has the ability to do better in these conditions. "Maybe it will sound funny, but the team we have is capable of performing better. We have the ability to play better than we did in Hamilton and here." Riyad said after the defeat at Wellington.

He underlined a few reasons while also maintaining that the batsmen were more at fault this time around. "I think the batsmen are more at fault here since we were bowled out twice in two-and-a-half day.

"I'm really disappointed since we did not apply ourselves well. A few of our batsman were caught in-between playing a shot or leaving the deliveries. We did not commit and back ourselves," he continued.

The bowlers had once again given away a lot of runs and this time Ross Taylor ensured that runs were scored quickly. Riyad once again reiterated that dropped chances played a part.

"If we had captured those chances then it would have given a better momentum to the bowlers. [Abu Jayed] Rahi, Mustafizur [Rahman] and Taijul [Islam] bowled well but they were scoring at 5 an over so we need to figure out what we can do when the opposition comes at us like that," he said.

In Hamilton there were a few memorable batting performances with Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar and Riyad himself striking tons but this time there were no such innings from the Tigers top-order. "One of the main reasons for that is the pitch condition. If you look at the length Wagner was getting the bounce from today, I think he had to land the ball a bit further back to extract the same bounce in Hamilton. It was easier to leave the ball and see it well enough [in Hamilton]. There was more assistance here and he used it well. Credit goes to him, because he was successful with his theory," the Tigers skipper concluded.