Kiwis determined to make clean sweep
Monday, 31 December 2007
QUEENSTOWN, Dec 30 (Cricinfo): New Zealand are determined to make a clean sweep of Bangladesh when the two sides meet for the third and final one-day international at the Queenstown Events Centre. Inclement summer weather disrupted practice on the eve of the game and more is forecast on game day, but the mood remained upbeat in the home camp.
The hosts go into the clash having already clinched the series 2-0 courtesy a 102-run D/L method win in Napier but John Bracewell, New Zealand's coach, hoped to build on two wins against Bangladesh after disappointing tours to South Africa and Australia.
"Rhythm, momentum going into the Test series, the goal is to continue building confidence and lift of our performance from the other two games - setting the bar a little bit higher each time," he told the New Zealand Herald. "For us, confidence and self-assessment is extremely important. It's not necessarily important what the opposition is doing, it's what we're doing and I think we can still lift the bar."
After struggling in their last two series, New Zealand's batsman put up runs - albeit expectedly - against Bangladesh, chasing 202 with six wickets left and posting 335 for 5. The bowlers were unable to dismiss an out-of-form Bangladesh batting line-up in Napier but Bracewell put faith in his opening pair, Kyle Mills and Chris Martin. Mills has seven wickets in two games, including 4 for 40 in Napier and Martin has conceded less than three runs an over despite not having taken a wicket.
"I've been pleased with the heat with which Chris has bowled. Without Shane Bond, he's our go-to player, and he's still learning the skills [of one-day bowling]," said Bracewell. "He's only played 11 or 12 one-day games [since his debut in 1999] so he's still making the adjustment from that continual line and length at test-match level."
Mark Gillespie, the right-arm medium-pacer, remains a doubt after aggravating his left shoulder in Napier and will be assessed before the match. Michael Mason could get a game on a track that traditionally favours seam bowling. It is unlikely that offspinner Jeetan Patel will play.
A loss to Bangladesh would send New Zealand from third to fourth place on the International Cricket Council's ODI rankings.
Bracewell's opposite number, Jamie Siddons, said his side had no pretensions about upstaging their opposition. "We don't pretend that we're going to compete with New Zealand on a regular basis at this point in time. We are learning, but it's going to take time. They're young players, some are only playing their first or second game of their lives at this level.
"There's a learning curve they have to go through and we're going to suffer some pain. We're suffering that pain now - there's no way around it."
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ashraful demands Bangladesh give it all in the third and final one-day international in Queenstown after an "unacceptable" performance in the second match. Bangladesh have already conceded the best-of-three series 2-0 to New Zealand but Ashraful felt his side could come back hard ahead of the two Tests, reports Cricinfo.
"I believe we can recover from the performance in Napier," he told the Sunday Star Times. "Our effort in that match was not up to our usual standard and we're capable of playing much better than that hopefully we can prove that here in Queenstown.
"We need to lift our game in all the main areas but particularly in terms of producing a better performance in our middle order. We can't afford to lose wickets so quickly; we need to make better decisions when the pressure is on."
From Queenstown, Bangladesh will travel to Dunedin to begin preparations for the first Test. Ashraful, 23, was glad to have the services of Test specialists Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees and Enamul Haque jnr, who fly into Auckland today. Bangladesh have a single win in 49 Tests, against a weak Zimbabwe side in 2004-05, and Ashraful called on his players to play hard against New Zealand.
Assessing the opposition, who were completely outclassed in a two-Test series in South Africa recently, Ashraful felt they were a formidable side. "I don't think New Zealand are vulnerable in the Tests, despite what happened to them in South Africa," he said. "They're a good side; they fight very hard and they're especially tough to play in their own conditions." The second and final Test, also the last match of the tour, starts in Wellington on January 12.
New Zealand: 1 Jamie How, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Mathew Sinclair, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Michael Mason, 11 Chris Martin.
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mehrab Hossain Jnr, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Farhad Reza, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shahadat Hossain.
The hosts go into the clash having already clinched the series 2-0 courtesy a 102-run D/L method win in Napier but John Bracewell, New Zealand's coach, hoped to build on two wins against Bangladesh after disappointing tours to South Africa and Australia.
"Rhythm, momentum going into the Test series, the goal is to continue building confidence and lift of our performance from the other two games - setting the bar a little bit higher each time," he told the New Zealand Herald. "For us, confidence and self-assessment is extremely important. It's not necessarily important what the opposition is doing, it's what we're doing and I think we can still lift the bar."
After struggling in their last two series, New Zealand's batsman put up runs - albeit expectedly - against Bangladesh, chasing 202 with six wickets left and posting 335 for 5. The bowlers were unable to dismiss an out-of-form Bangladesh batting line-up in Napier but Bracewell put faith in his opening pair, Kyle Mills and Chris Martin. Mills has seven wickets in two games, including 4 for 40 in Napier and Martin has conceded less than three runs an over despite not having taken a wicket.
"I've been pleased with the heat with which Chris has bowled. Without Shane Bond, he's our go-to player, and he's still learning the skills [of one-day bowling]," said Bracewell. "He's only played 11 or 12 one-day games [since his debut in 1999] so he's still making the adjustment from that continual line and length at test-match level."
Mark Gillespie, the right-arm medium-pacer, remains a doubt after aggravating his left shoulder in Napier and will be assessed before the match. Michael Mason could get a game on a track that traditionally favours seam bowling. It is unlikely that offspinner Jeetan Patel will play.
A loss to Bangladesh would send New Zealand from third to fourth place on the International Cricket Council's ODI rankings.
Bracewell's opposite number, Jamie Siddons, said his side had no pretensions about upstaging their opposition. "We don't pretend that we're going to compete with New Zealand on a regular basis at this point in time. We are learning, but it's going to take time. They're young players, some are only playing their first or second game of their lives at this level.
"There's a learning curve they have to go through and we're going to suffer some pain. We're suffering that pain now - there's no way around it."
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ashraful demands Bangladesh give it all in the third and final one-day international in Queenstown after an "unacceptable" performance in the second match. Bangladesh have already conceded the best-of-three series 2-0 to New Zealand but Ashraful felt his side could come back hard ahead of the two Tests, reports Cricinfo.
"I believe we can recover from the performance in Napier," he told the Sunday Star Times. "Our effort in that match was not up to our usual standard and we're capable of playing much better than that hopefully we can prove that here in Queenstown.
"We need to lift our game in all the main areas but particularly in terms of producing a better performance in our middle order. We can't afford to lose wickets so quickly; we need to make better decisions when the pressure is on."
From Queenstown, Bangladesh will travel to Dunedin to begin preparations for the first Test. Ashraful, 23, was glad to have the services of Test specialists Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees and Enamul Haque jnr, who fly into Auckland today. Bangladesh have a single win in 49 Tests, against a weak Zimbabwe side in 2004-05, and Ashraful called on his players to play hard against New Zealand.
Assessing the opposition, who were completely outclassed in a two-Test series in South Africa recently, Ashraful felt they were a formidable side. "I don't think New Zealand are vulnerable in the Tests, despite what happened to them in South Africa," he said. "They're a good side; they fight very hard and they're especially tough to play in their own conditions." The second and final Test, also the last match of the tour, starts in Wellington on January 12.
New Zealand: 1 Jamie How, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Mathew Sinclair, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Michael Mason, 11 Chris Martin.
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mehrab Hossain Jnr, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Farhad Reza, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shahadat Hossain.