Cricket: Now for battle with the Aussies

DHAKA - Individuals posted numerous milestones on the New Zealand cricket tour of Bangladesh, but the team could be feeling short-changed after their stint on the subcontinent.

They won both tests by an innings and dominated the one-day series 3-0 with an 83-run victory in the third and final game in Dhaka yesterday.

Besides the second one-dayer where New Zealand had to stave off a Bangladesh fightback to scrape a three-wicket win, the tourists were expected to win handsomely, and they did.

Bangladesh were always going to be treated as a warm-up to the upcoming Australian series and New Zealand exploited that favouritism with emphatic victories in both tests.

Captain Stephen Fleming passed Martin Crowe's New Zealand record of 5444 test runs in the second test at Chittagong, and in the process blazed a double-century to become just the third New Zealander to post 200 twice in tests.

Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum's maiden test century in the first test in Dhaka also shone through.

James Franklin became just the second New Zealander to record a hat-trick in tests when he skittled the Bangladeshis in the opening test.

But for all the impressive winning margins, there is still some doubt whether the tour was a satisfactory build-up for a battle with the Australians, which starts with the first test in Brisbane on November 18.

But man-of-the-one-day series Scott Styris, who scored 51 yesterday and bowled tidily on the slow wickets, backed their time on foreign soil and in conditions that will be completely different to Australia.

"While the wickets are different and the pace of the bowlers are different, it's still better than training," Styris said.

"Playing in the middle, regardless of the opposition, will always be better than any net practice."

Looking beyond the big wins, the Black Caps' failure to cement significant partnerships in the top-five was the biggest disappointment, with Styris just one of three batsmen, along with Mathew Sinclair and Chris Cairns, to pass 50 in the one-day series.

But that has not concerned the tourists.

"To be honest, there hasn't been a lot of talk about it," Styris said.

"We're just savouring the victory. While the performance wasn't as complete as we would have liked, it was one small hiccup and one we don't want to happen again.

"I guess there's an element of our batting line-up falling short, but the wickets we've been batting on haven't been the easiest."

Fleming rated Australia as scarier opposition than the record-breaking team he last met under Stephen Waugh.

He said the world champions were set to reach a new level of dominance because they prepared "much smarter" than when Waugh led them to a 0-0 transtasman series draw in 2001.

The team assemble in Sydney today.

- NZPA