Tamim calls for caution in opening 10 overs

Tamim himself has had a horrid start to the tour, scoring just five runs each in the first two matches © Getty

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has urged his team mates to bat cautiously in the opening ten overs after the New Zealand bowlers made early inroads in the opening two ODIs that paved the way for a series win.

Tamim himself has had a horrid start to the tour, scoring just five runs each in the first two matches. His opening partner Liton Das has also struggled to get going, registering scores of 1 and 1 which has put the visitors on the backfoot very early in the game on both occasions.

Bangladesh lost four wickets in the opening ten overs in the first ODI and then went onto lose three in the second ODI, following which they have struggled to make a comeback. "Whoever comes in need to bat long," Tamim told reporters ahead of the third ODI.

"To be honest I will only hope that we don't give away the game in the opening 10 overs because if you lose couple of wickets in the opening 10 overs it gets difficult to make a comeback. I think we did that in the opening two games and paid the price and we hope not to make those mistakes in the next game."

Tamim agreed that his side didn't do enough to challenge the hosts so far despite the wickets being conducive to batting. "To be honest, the wickets were very good, especially in the first match," Tamim pointed out. "We knew that their two opening bowlers start very well and we gave away four wickets. The wicket was good in the second game as well but they had some help due to the weather and conditions at that time following the rain.

"Last year we played some good cricket but could not win but this year we have not been able to play good cricket. Last time we put up a fight but this year there was no contest. I don't know why we are failing to beat them here despite coming to New Zealand on three to four occasions. Because we have beaten them in Ireland and England and so there is no reason why we cannot beat them here. First of all we need to play good cricket and we need to do it quickly as World Cup is not very far ahead."

Bangladesh are meanwhile sweating over the fitness of Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim. Mithun, who has scored half-centuries in both games, is likely to sit out after pulling his hamstring in the previous ODI. Mushfiqur has been kept under observation for the last 48 hours after a rib injury resurfaced to cause problems. "He (Rahim) did not practice today and just passed the time walking around the ground during the practice session but we believe he might recover before the last game though I am not sure because we are yet to get the scan report," team manager Khaled Mashud said.