Cricket: Oram looking for bounce in second test

1.00pm - By MARTYN WATTERSON

DHAKA - Towering New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram is praying the MA Aziz Stadium pitch will provide more life for the seamers when the second cricket test starts tomorrow.

The Black Caps landed in the seaport of Chittagong yesterday for the rematch after spinners Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman plundered the Bangladeshi batsmen in the first test on a slow and turning Dhaka pitch.

The hosts were routed by an innings and 99 runs with the spinners taking nine wickets between them in the second innings.

"Hopefully in Chittagong there will be a bit more in the wicket for us. While we don't mind doing the job of containing and applying the pressure for the spinners to take the wickets, it's always nice to have few numbers in the wickets column," Oram told NZPA.

However Oram, at 2.03m, and fellow seamer James Franklin did not leave capital empty-handed, with three and five wickets respectively in the first innings.

They bowled a restricting line and length which created pressure, but poor shot selection heavily contributed to the dismissals, with the pitch offering minimal assistance.

"I talked to a couple of the Bangladeshi guys and they said Chittagong has a bit more bounce but it might not be the type of bounce we normally expect. We're just holding our breath and waiting to see what we get," Oram said.

"In the first innings when there was some semblance of bounce in the pitch, our seamers did the work and, when it flattened out the spinners stepped up so it was a good blend for us.

"I was extremely happy with three wickets in the first innings because I thought one or two would have been plenty with the spinners doing the majority of the work."

Oram, who took the new ball in the first test, expected both Wiseman and Vettori to be included in the starting 11 when the team are announced here early tomorrow (1am NZT), but he said there could be changes with the pace bowlers.

Coach John Bracewell would be reluctant to make any major alterations, but with the series against Australia next month, he could be tempted to include either Kyle Mills or Chris Martin to improve their match fitness after being sidelined for both the test and warm-up game.

The test in Chittagong also provides Oram with his final blowout before Australia as he, along with skipper Stephen Fleming, are being rested for the three-one day internationals starting on November 2.

Bangladesh have made changes with opening batsmen Hannan Sarker dropped after scoring just two runs in Dhaka, while coach Dav Whatmore may have sounded his intentions with spin bowler Enamul Haque replacing speedster Alamgir Kabir.

Their spinners had the most success against New Zealand, with Mohammad Rafique taking six wickets and Manzural Rana three.

They were dealt a further blow when their captain and best batsman Habibul Bashar failed a fitness test on his thumb which also ruled him out of the first test.

Whatever the changes in the Black Caps personnel, Oram believed the same merciless approach will be adopted against the fledging test nation for the second match.

"From a team perspective the fact that we played with the ruthlessness which was expected was very good.

"We didn't get worried about who we were playing and their recent record. We just went out there and did our job well by winning inside three days and one session.

"We've come over here to get some results after recent poor performances, notably the 0-3 whitewash in England, and it doesn't matter who it's against."

"It could have been an even more resounding result if I hadn't bored everyone to bed," Oram quipped about his 23 runs in New Zealand's innings which took over 120 balls on a slow second day.

"I can't remember much about the innings. I fell asleep for the majority of it."

- NZPA