New Zealand’s 17-game unbeaten run at home came to a dramatic end as they lost the Bay Oval Test against Bangladesh by eight wickets.
Follow Us
New Zealand came to the series against Bangladesh as the overwhelming favorites. This was their first series at home since being crowned the ICC World Test Champions in June 2021. Although they had lost the series in India 0-1, it was considered a minor blip considering they could dominate at home. They were unbeaten in New Zealand since 2017. The Black Caps had won 17 Tests, with series wins against Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. But, on January 5, 2022, everything changed dramatically at The Bay Oval.
Bangladesh, who had not won their last 43 encounters across formats in New Zealand for 11 years, put in a disciplined performance. The batsman, led by Mahmidul Joy, Mominul Haque, and Liton Das was in fine form. But, Ebadot Hossain’s spell of 6/46 which included a brilliant burst of three wickets in two overs stunned New Zealand. The exhibition of reverse swing from Ebadot saw them crumble in the second innings. Bangladesh sealed victory in style.
Read | Ebadot Hossain – Air Force Volleyball player who gave Bangladesh cricket glory in New Zealand
Speaking after the end of the match, Tom Latham rued the batting collapses in both innings. In the first, they lost seven wickets for 101 runs. During the second innings, they lost eight wickets for 33 runs. “Bangladesh showed exactly how to operate in the first innings. They put us under pressure. We tried to build partnerships in our second innings but couldn’t push the advantage. They showed it with the ball today. They were confident. They bowled really well. Full respect to them and they certainly outplayed us throughout the five days,” Latham said.
Latham credited Bangladesh for bowling the better lengths and getting much more movement than the New Zealand bowlers. “We haven’t played a lot of cricket here. It is not a huge amount of information, whether we could have gone a little bit straighter earlier and whether we could have attacked the stumps a little bit more earlier on. But the ball was always swinging throughout the innings and they obviously played the short ball really well and showed us the lengths we needed to bowl. They got enough out of the surface to trouble us,” Latham said.
When asked whether New Zealand had taken Bangladesh lightly, Latham dismissed the notion and said they were not resting on the laurels of the ICC World Test Championship win. “We know we have to turn up and play our brand of cricket. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite do that. We know it is a new two-year cycle. What we did last time was outstanding. It was a pretty special time. The focus has quickly shifted to the two-year cycle here. We started over in India. This is the first Test of our home summer. We have a chance in a few days to put another good performance on the board,” Latham said.
The second and final Test will take place at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on January 9.
