CT25: NZ v Bangladesh, notebook dump

Ravindra back with a breeze, Latham piles on and Bracewell bewitches

Stand tall and hit under your eyes - textbook Ravindra. Getty Images

Bangladesh 236 for 9 (Shanto 77; Bracewell 4-26); NZ 240 for 5 (Ravindra 112, Latham 55). NZ won by 5 wickets with 23 balls remaining.

The march through Pakistan continues apace with another perfectly rounded performance from the Black Caps that was made to look mundane at times. Scratch that, it was mundane at times, particularly as Bangladesh contrived to face 181 dot balls from their allotment.

Batting first, 236 never looked like being competitive and the two early New Zealand wickets in reply only ever felt like an unwelcome judder bar before they hit the open road.

Taken as a collective — including the Tri-Nations — the Black Caps have built the perfect platform. Every batter used has played a role in the five competitive matches and with the introduction of Kyle Jamieson last night, coach Gary Stead will have a much firmer idea about what mix of bowlers is likely to cause the most problems in these conditions. Here’s a lucky eight observations, both big and trifling.

1. Ravindra will win most of the headline space but he would be the first to acknowledge this game was won between the ninth and 29th overs of the first innings and the principal reason for that was the remarkable spell of Michael Bracewell. For a start, it is rare that bowlers bowl their 10-over allotments unbroken. The modern trend is to mix and match, to seek out favourable match-ups and to avoid giving batters an opportunity to get a bead on a particular bowler. Skipper Mitchell Santner threw that playbook out the window. Bracewell took a wicket with his second ball when Tanzid Hasan — who looked briefly dangerous when he twice pinged Jamieson over square leg for 10 in two balls — scuffed a slog to Kane Williamson at short midwicket, and that seemed to have a curious effect on Bangladesh. They became Darrins to his Samantha as he bewitched even their most experienced players into a combination of dead-bat blocks and top-edged slogs. Once he had finished, 260 to 270 was about the best Bangladesh could hope for, and they still fell short of that.