Bangladesh slipped to a 26-run defeat in Friday’s first ODI in Dhaka, bowled out for 221 while chasing a modest 248. The loss felt self-inflicted: at 114 for 2 in the 23rd over the hosts were cruising, only for the innings to seize up once set batters Saif Hassan and Litton Das departed.
Saif and Litton had pieced together 93 for the third wicket, largely untroubled against a New Zealand attack missing a couple of senior quicks. Saif reached his second ODI fifty, Litton compiled 46 – his third straight score in the forties – and the Shere Bangla crowd relaxed. Five overs later both were gone and the chase never really restarted.
The squeeze began immediately. Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain faced 79 balls between them for just 52 runs. Only one boundary arrived in that 13-over passage, the required rate creeping from a manageable 5.1 an over to more than seven by the time Afif chipped to mid-wicket in the 41st. The tension in the half-full stands was obvious; a few jeers even surfaced when singles were greeted like dot balls.
Afif’s 27 off 59 and Hridoy’s 24 were followed by a predictable slide. Skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz, never a quick starter, managed 14; Rishad Hossain’s lean run continued. New Zealand’s seamers hit a back-of-a-length channel, Matt Henry and Adam Milne sharing five wickets, while Ish Sodhi’s leg-spin dried up one end.
“If I could have carried my innings a bit longer… it would have been easier,” Saif admitted afterwards. “It [the pitch] was a bit uneven. But I don’t think there’s any way to escape by using that excuse. It was a bit easier for a set batsman, but a bit tough for a new batsman. So I think… we needed to adjust.” He added, “As a batsman, of course, I will always want a true wicket. But at the end of the day, how the wicket is actually behaving and how much I am able to adjust to it, that’s what’s important.”
The conditions were indeed two-paced, yet New Zealand had shown a workable method earlier. Their own innings stalled at times – 247 for 8 never looked imposing – but Glenn Phillips’ 68 and some late hitting from Mitchell Santner pushed them to something defendable. Bangladesh’s bowlers, notably Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed, will feel they did enough.
Focus, then, swings back to the middle order. Coach Phil Simmons remarked recently that several Bangladesh contenders are natural top-order players in domestic cricket, still learning how to rotate strike once the ball softens. Afif and Mehidy, fair targets for scrutiny, have averaged under 25 in the past year; Najmul Hossain Shanto’s dip has only sharpened the conversation.
There is no panic – it is a three-match series – but another stalled chase on Sunday would leave selectors with awkward questions. A touch more intent in those middle overs, and Friday’s story might have read very differently.
