If the Black Caps needed any complacency shaken out of them before tonight's third and final one-day international against Bangladesh, they need look no further then Friday night's debacle.
Chasing just 147 for victory on a flat pitch, New Zealand limped home in the 45th over with just three wickets to
spare.
As preparation for the upcoming test and one-day series with Australia, this tour to the subcontinent might have proven little except to emphasise the fact that sloppiness can be punished by even the meekest of opponents.
The hosts were bundled out for 146 in the 44th over and another heavy defeat looked imminent when Mathew Sinclair, who top-scored with 62, and Nathan Astle posted a 74-run opening partnership.
Instead seven wickets fell for 74 runs as the Black Caps' batting crumbled, giving 20,000 raucous fans the faint hope of a massive upset under floodlights at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Chris Cairns and Daniel Vettori eventually saw a jittery Black Caps side through to an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Adding insult to the Black Caps' batting woes was that Bangladesh's chief destroyer, Aftab Ahmed, was their No 3 batsman and was bowling for the first time in an ODI.
The right-arm medium-pacer finished with five for 31 in a man-of-the-match performance. Ahmed was also the first Bangladesh player to take a five-wicket bag in an ODI match.
It might have been Vettori's second victory as skipper, but he and the team will take no satisfaction from a game they should have won comfortably.
"We were cruising there for a while with Mathew Sinclair, but a few decisions went against us and that allowed Bangladesh back into the game and we didn't handle it quite as well as we should have," Vettori said.
"Losing that many wickets in chasing such a total was unacceptable.
"We were a touch tentative when we could least afford to be.
"Maybe we could be a little more confident in what we do and try and take the game to them and finish it in the 30th or 35th over which has been our style in the past."
Vettori credited the Bangladeshi slow bowlers for screwing down the Black Caps who at one stage were 125 for six, but said the team had lost some of the killer instinct it gained during the test series where they finished off the Bangladesh team so ruthlessly.
"Unfortunately we have a little bit. We put together two good displays in the test matches and we were hoping to do the same in the one-dayers, and while we have two wins, I don't think anyone in the side will be happy with the way we got them.
"With Australia coming up, we really need to put together a top performance."
After losing the first match by 138 runs, Bangladesh started the second game disastrously, after winning the toss and choosing to go in to bat before the New Zealanders. Kyle Mills had two batsmen back in the shed in the first over and the slide continued after the Bangladeshi batting order collapsed to 52 for five.
A 56-run partnership between Khaled Mashud, who scored 41, and Rajin Saleh dragged Bangladesh into triple figures before the tail fizzed.
Scott Styris was the best of the bowlers with three for 16 while Cairns, Mills and James Franklin took two wickets each.
- NZPA
Black Caps fixtures and results 2004-05
If the Black Caps needed any complacency shaken out of them before tonight's third and final one-day international against Bangladesh, they need look no further then Friday night's debacle.
Chasing just 147 for victory on a flat pitch, New Zealand limped home in the 45th over with just three wickets to
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