Persistent rain caused by the depression over Bay of Bengal washed out the second one-day international match between Bangladesh and New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday.
Match referee Javagal Sreenath and two umpires Enamul Haque and SK Tarapore finally called off the game at 11:00am after a brief inspection of the pitch as there was no sign for the weather to improve.
New Zealand had only four officials present at the ground when the declaration came as their players opted to stay at their hotel seeing no chance of the game with rain continuously pouring down.
Bangladesh, however, had their full squad present despite the poor weather. The hosts, who drew the first blood in the series with a nine-run win in the first match on Tuesday, appeared completely disappointed with no play.
‘We had a plan for the game which now has to be altered. Naturally we are disappointed,’ said stand-in skipper Sakib al Hasan.
‘However, it can be a blessing in disguise for us as we know if we win one game now we will not lose the series. The pressure will be certainly on New Zealand now, ’he said.
Senior cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim said rain had denied them a chance of working on their shortcomings.
‘We played very well in the first match but there are a lot of areas we need to improve. We did not get the chance, so we are disappointed,’ Mushfiq told reporters.
The wicketkeeper-batsman was least bothered about the outcome of the series.
‘We will try to keep up the momentum that we have picked up after winning the first ODI and that is all I can say. Jamie told us to think match by match and we just would like to do that. If we can play to our potential then we have a fair chance against the Kiwis,’ he said.
‘Obviously we are in front psychologically but we cannot get complacent as they have been in a similar situation two years back and clawed their way back. Jamie has always reminded it to us,’ he said.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced that the tickets of the second one-day match will remain valid for the next game. The BCB will release only 4,000 additional tickets for the third match and said they will stop the ongoing renovation work on the day to accommodate them.
The third match of the series will be held on Monday.
