Simmons said Bangladesh had given the game away with their poor starts with both bat and ball against India. “We lost in batting in overs one to ten, and the same in bowling. We have to make sure we win in those areas,” Simmons said. “We need to assess and put together our batting better in the first ten overs. The middle and lower order have done really well so it is up to our top-order batsmen to put things together in the first 10 or 15 overs, especially.”
Bangladesh had slipped to 35 for 5 in the ninth over in that game in Dubai. Soumya Sarkar fell in Mohammad Shami’s first over before captain Najmul Hossain Shanto gave Virat Kohli a catch at cover in the second. Tanzid Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz didn’t last too long either, while Mushfiqur Rahim fell for a golden duck.
Bangladesh are facing a familiar opposition in New Zealand – they have faced them most frequently in bilateral cricket than anyone else since 2015. This match will have a different vibe than a bilateral game, though, Simmons said. “All the games in this tournament are pressure games. These are the top-eight teams in the world, and you expect every game to be hard. They are definitely playing well but tomorrow is a new day. We will try to make sure that they don’t play as well as they have been playing.”
“I think the guys took a lot of confidence in that going into that first game against Pakistan, but then also here into Bangladesh. Again, it’s probably a reset, it’s a different surface, a different team. But I think the way the guys have been planning and netting and stuff has all been good stuff.”
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