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New Zealand Confident to Win Series Decider Against Bangladesh
Will O’Rourke, the New Zealand fast bowler, has promised that the team will “put our best foot forward” to try and win the ongoing ODI series against Bangladesh.
Most of the first-choice New Zealand players are busy in the IPL and PSL, and as a result, NZC was forced to send an inexperienced side for the tour of Bangladesh.
Series Overview
New Zealand have, however, given a good account of themselves, remaining in contention for the series win. New Zealand won the first game by 26 runs before Bangladesh fought back to level the series with a six-wicket win in the second ODI in Dhaka. It is now set up for a series decider in Chattogram.
O’Rourke said that the current squad knew that adjusting to Bangladeshi conditions was their main focus. They have played in two different types of pitches in Dhaka where the ball kept low and spun erratically in the first game, while there was better pace and bounce in the second.
“I think we’re taking a lot of pride in coming over here and obviously wanting to win a series,” O’Rourke said. “The boys will be up for it. They’ll prepare well today and we’ll come out tomorrow definitely wanting to put our best foot forward and win the series. I think we’ve got a pretty new group here, like a lot of us haven’t been here before and haven’t played too much in Bangladesh.
O’Rourke said that he noticed that the Chattogram pitch had a bit of grass on top so he was expecting a bit of pace and bounce out of the surface. He also noticed that the outfield was dry, suggesting that the fielders will have their work cut out.
Pitch and Conditions
“I just walked past (the pitch) briefly there. It looks like another nice deck. I thought the last two decks looked nice as well, so I don’t know what I’m talking about too much, but it’s been good so far.
“(The outfield) does look dry, looks like it’s probably pretty quick. Once it beats the fielders, it’s probably going to run away. I did like the look of the wicket though. It looked like there was a bit of grass in it, so hopefully there’s a little bit of pace and bounce. I think we will obviously find out tomorrow, but we obviously like to pride ourselves on our fielding, so we’ll put our best foot forward tomorrow.”
Personal Reflections
O’Rourke had spent eight months working his way back into the New Zealand team, and has quickly established himself as a key figure in the squad.
“It has been awesome to be back. It’s been a long time coming and sort of mapped out this tour from a while back, so I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. First time in Bangladesh and I’ve been really enjoying it.
“I know the decks out there are not easy to bat on, so I wouldn’t say they’re unfavorable to us, but the body’s feeling good, so it’s been nice to be back.”
O’Rourke said that New Zealand were expecting more seamer-friendly surfaces in Bangladesh knowing full well that the home side now possesses a strong pace attack.
“I guess we’re expecting them to have decent seam wickets coming over here. You have obviously got a very good seam attack at the moment and some world-class bowlers. Obviously, Rana’s gone very good last game and guys like the Fizz waiting in the wings.
“You have obviously got a great seam attack, so I guess personally I was hoping that the wickets were going to be reasonably seam-friendly, which they have been. So I guess yeah, we’ll wait and see what happens tomorrow.”
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