Having been outclassed in both One-Day Internationals of the three-match series in New Zealand, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza was hopefully of a good show from his troops in the final ODI to be played on Wednesday (20th February) in Dunedin.
With two straight ODI defeats against New Zealand, Bangladesh are not having the best possible beginning to their ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 preparations, but Mortaza was not much stressed with the result, as he is not willing to show the side’s true strength in the ongoing series keeping in mind the upcoming 50-over event in England begin from 30 May.
However, Mashrafe is keen to get some confidence back before Ireland tour by winning the third and final ODI against the Kiwis, saying the Dunedin wicket is very good and his team will certainly bounce back in the already defeated series in New Zealand.
Mortaza told media ahead of the Dunedin ODI, “Napier [where the series opener was played] was a solid wicket to bat on, maybe adjusting to it takes a bit of time but all those things count as an excuse when you lose by 2-0. Hopefully, we will come up with some good things tomorrow, when our top order can bat well, letting our middle-order exposed at the end instead.”
Meanwhile, the skipper has urged his batsmen to make the most out of the Dunedin ODI to gain confidence ahead of the Ireland tour, which will be their final ODI assignment for the World Cup.
He continued, “As far as I know, New Zealand played against England and they scored 340 while New Zealand chased it down in 45 overs. So, we are expecting a very good batting track and hopefully, we will think about it and plan accordingly. In Ireland, we will be going with the World Cup team, so maybe this is the last match before the World Cup. I think there is nothing much to change and these guys are experienced enough to do well. Things did not happen the way we wanted to [on this tour] but let's see, there is still a game left to get some confidence going into Ireland and World Cup.”
On being asked if there was much that he wanted his side to keep hidden, he replied, “Obviously. If you look at the series in Ireland last time out, we won matches there against New Zealand. Going into the Champions Trophy, we beat them again. Obviously, it was a nice feeling.”
Mortaza signed off by saying, “We want to do things the same way [from last time]. It is going to be difficult. Again, we want to do it but it is going to be difficult in this part of the world. The good thing is that wicket will be very good and hopefully we play well.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
