Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo has expressed his views on the second T20I and the confusion that was caused in the middle while Bangladesh came out to bat without knowing the official target.
The Kiwis batted first and scored 173/5 in 17.5 overs before rain forced their innings to close. Bangladesh came in to bat with the target of 148 in 16 overs. However, the play was halted just 9 balls later as there was a change in the target. Their new target was 170 in 16 overs, which was yet again changed to 171 with 3 overs left.
Domingo, like almost all others present at the McLean Park in Napier for the second T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh, had never experienced a game in his life where the side batting second did not have a finalized target to chase down.
Russell Domingo said, "I don't think I have been involved in a game before where batters go out and don't know what the target is. Nobody had any idea of how many we needed after five or six overs."
"I don't think the game should have started until it was finalised, before there was a clear indication of what is required, and what we needed at certain stages. I don't quite think the conduct was good enough this evening," he added.
He further revealed that when the match referee was approached, the target calculations were still going on.
"(When we met the match referee) they were still waiting for calculations. If you are waiting, the game can't start. What was explained was they normally get it one or two balls in... No excuses, but this is just very frustrating," Domingo said.
The play had to be halted after 1.3 overs because the teams requested for DLS sheet, which ideally should have been given to them before the start of the second innings.
An ICC spokesperson told ESPNCricInfo, "The target score was verbally communicated to the umpires at the start of the innings. However, play had to be halted after 1.3 overs as the teams requested for the DLS sheet. Play resumed once the sheets were provided to the teams."
(With inputs from Reuters)
