Stand-in New Zealand captain Kyle Mills credited an opening barrage by debutant Anton Devcich and regular wickets with the ball for his side’s victory against Bangladesh at Mirpur in the only Twenty20 International of the tour. Opening batsman Devcich, playing in his first Twenty20 International, belted 59 off 31 deliveries and helped New Zealand reach 70 for no loss at the end of the power-play in the first six overs.
New Zealand would go on to score 204/5 in their innings and win by 15 runs after restricting Bangladesh to 189/9.
‘I think in the first innings we batted magnificently well,’ said Mills at the post-match briefing at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium after his first T20 International as New Zealand captain in place of the injured Brendon McCullum.
‘Our opening partnership with Devcich really took the game by the scruff of the neck, and then Ross Taylor [28 off 25] crafted another beautiful innings, and [Colin] Munro [73 off 39] came on the form he did from the last game, so if you put a decent total on the board like 200, you’re reasonably confident at the halfway mark,’ he continued, adding that he felt his side were always in control of the match.
‘I think we were on the front foot from ball one really. The way Devcich played in the first six overs was outstanding really. To post 200 on the board, I think the Bangladesh side were always behind the game from then on in and they played really well those first seven of the second innings overs [when Bangladesh reached 85/4] to get to just under par probably.’
‘The wickets for us were crucial in that second innings. We picked three early wickets, which from that point on Bangladesh were always sort of chasing the game really.’
‘We were always picking up wickets along the way; they never really established a big partnership. Chipping away at the wicket column we were always going to be in control, I would have thought.’
Despite the setbacks, however, Bangladesh continued to bat aggressively and stayed ahead of the required run-rate for much of their chase, an approach that did not surprise the Black Caps stand-in skipper.
‘I think the Bangladesh side are playing some really aggressive cricket under [coach Shane] Jurgensen, and I think when you go into situations like this – when it’s pretty much a sell-out crowd, one-game series – there’s only one way the Bangladesh side are going to play.’
‘We’re fully aware they’re gonna to come pretty hard at us with the ball, which they did, and we were fortunate enough to pick up early wickets, which nullified it really.’
‘But it was a good entertaining match – nearly 400 runs scored on the day – so it’s nice to come out on the right side of the ledger.’
-With New Age input
