Even though Bangladesh had enough wickets at hands, New Zealand didn’t allow them to score freely, said skipper Tom Latham.
With the disastrous start of the first ODI that eventually bowled them out for just 131 still fresh in mind, Bangladesh made a cautious start. They furthermore became more cautious after Liton Das fell for naught, reducing Bangladesh to 4-1.
However at one phase when skipper Tamim Iqbal set himself nicely in the crease, he didn’t take any initiative to launch an attack. Tamim who brought up his half-century off 84, was finally dismissed on 72 off 108.
The intent was not aggressive enough when Mushfiqur Rahim came in the crease after the dismissal of Tamim. He also went slowly but Mohammad Mithun showed some intent and courtesy to his 57 ball-73 not out, Bangladesh could post a challenging 271-6.
New Zealand overhauled the target in 48.2 overs, making 275-5 with Latham leading the way with 110 not out.
“Even though, Bangladesh had wickets in hand, we controlled them. Santner was good. We didn’t get the best start, but we built through the middle in the chase,” Latham said after the match.
“We need to adapt to whatever surface we are playing on, and today we did that. It was a tricky surface. Nice to cross the line. Conway’s done fantastically well.
Done well domestically and has now brought it into the international game. Always nice to win the series. Want to keep improving as a side.”
While Latham’s fifth ODI century drove the side past victory, he was happy to contribute for the side significantly, specially when New Zealand was in meager 53-3.
Latham firstly shared 113-run with Devon Conway and later added further 76-run with James Neesham to edge the side closer to victory.
“Nice to have a match-winning contribution. We knew Bangladesh would come out fighting with the ball. We had to build some partnerships – did that with Devon Conway and Neesham,” he remarked.
“Dew made it tough. With two left-handers and a couple of off-spinners, we had to take a bit of time early on. We had those partnerships in the middle. We had our targets as a batting unit and they adjust according to scores or batting units. We know we’re always a couple of good overs from being on top,” he concluded.
