Dean Foxcroft did not waste time making himself useful. In only his second one-day international, and the first since debuting here 18 months ago, the 27-year-old produced a neat 59 from No. 6 and then removed Litton Das with his very first delivery in international cricket. New Zealand, occasionally scratchy with bat and ball, still found enough to defend 248 and claim a 27-run victory on an evening when the pitch kept everyone guessing.
New Zealand’s innings never really flowed. Rain delays, two early wickets and some canny left-arm spin from Taijul Islam meant frequent re-sets. Foxcroft arrived at 92 for four and chose tempo over fireworks, sweeping and working the ball rather than searching for the sightscreen. He shared 67 with Tom Latham and another 46 with the lower order, giving the tourists something vaguely competitive.
“I remember I came to bat at three, and Shoriful [Islam] got me through the gate,” Foxcroft said, referring to his debut innings here in 2023. “It was a different role today, batting at six. I was happy to survive my first ball. Then all the nerves have slowed down a little bit. You have just got to look past it and focus on today and the games coming up.”
If the half-century was significant, the ball that turned Bangladesh’s chase was arguably more so. With Litton and Najmul Hossain Shanto threatening, Latham threw Foxcroft the ball. One brisk off-break, a hint of drift, and Litton’s middle stump was rattled.
“I was obviously very happy with [the wicket] in my first bowl in international cricket,” Foxcroft said afterwards. “It was just about understanding how we’re going to bowl on that wicket and what’s going to work for us as a bowling unit. We thought the best way is to bowl quickly [with] a bit of turn. As soon as the lights came on, we thought the wicket will spin a bit more. I just thought I’d let it go, and it felt good. It was my first international wicket, so we’ll take that.”
Bangladesh had earlier seemed comfortable at 109 for two, but the dismissal triggered a middle-order wobble that cost 4 for 38. From there, regular wickets trumped Towhid Hridoy’s tidy 44, and Tim Southee’s closing spell ensured the hosts never quite regained control.
Foxcroft’s know-how comes from a slightly unusual route. Born in Pretoria, first toured Bangladesh with South Africa Under-19s in 2016, moved to Otago, qualified for the Black Caps last winter. This is already his fourth trip to the country, yet he still defers to senior colleagues.
“Everyone’s got great knowledge on how to play on these wickets,” he said. “Guys like Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls and Will Young played a lot of cricket. So it’s obviously very important for myself and other young guys as well, trying to learn from those guys and ask good questions on how to play spinners and even the seamers on these wickets.
“I think the wicket played beautifully. I think in the past, the boys had mixed messages about how the wicket was going to play. Credit to the training wickets as well. We thought the training wickets were pretty good, and it’s quite similar to the wicket in the middle.”
His summary was typically low-key: “It’s just making sure we adapt the best we can.” On this evidence, he already is.
