Bangladesh v New Zealand 2nd ODI.....One swallow does not make a summer

Saturday 11th October
Dhaka
03.00 GMT

As I said in my article on the first game, the Kiwi's would be totally undercooked and unaclimatised and so it proved as they went down to a heavy defeat.

Despite a good start and reaching 47-0, they collapsed to 79-6 before a recovery by Oram and Vettori helped them recover to post 201.

As I also highlighted in that article, key to Bangladesh chasing down any score was application by their batsmen rather then rash shots. They showed that application as they slowly but surely chased down that 201 with easy and winning by 7 wickets with 5 overs to spare.

Ok enough crowing from me, as the saying goes, one swallow maketh a summer not. So will The Kiwis bat like tits (the bird variety!) again or will they bounce back and make sure there are a few ducks in the Bangladesh batting order.

History has suggested that Bangladesh rarely follow up famous wins with a sustained period of success. They have won convincingly against top teams before, only to fall back to mediocrity soon after.

The Kiwis will be a lot more prepared for this second game and more used to the pitch that awaits them on the same ground in Mirpur. They remain favs to win the series despite the setback and I believe they could get back on track in convincing style.

My initial thoughts were that the first game would be Bangladesh’s best chance of a win in this series, but ultimately the Kiwis would prevail in the series. That still remains likelihood, however the manner with which Bangladesh won the first encounter, especially the application shown by the batsmen has made them go up in my estimation.

But have they gone up enough to convince me to back them for anything more then minimal stakes?

No is the answer to that.

Like I said they have had false dawns before and I would want to see more consistency before I commit bigger stakes.

This 2nd game should again be a low scoring affair, the pitch will make sure of that. Once again I expect it to be slow and low and after the initial new ball period I expect both sides to score runs.

As I said in that first game, a low scoring game in itself should ensure that those laying the Kiwis at short prices should at the very least have opportunities to trade and lock in a profit. The same applies to this game, though we are not fortunate enough to be able to lay at 1.11 again.

So what the bet?
Once again I suggest opposing the Kiwis, once again I suggest only for minimal stakes so the play is:

BACK Bangladesh for 1 point @ 6.0 at Ladbrokes.

Join me and though we all know that one swallow don’t make a summer, two could be the start of spring.

Bigjoe