Napier (New Zealand), (Asian independent) Bangladesh played the first nine balls of their innings in the second T20I against New Zealand without knowing their correct target on Tuesday at the McLean Park.
New Zealand’s innings had to be closed at 173/5 in 17.5 overs after which Bangladesh went into bat chasing a revised target of 148 in 16 overs.
However, play was stopped after just nine balls. On resumption of play after five minutes, the players were told that their revised target was 170 in 16 overs.
“Right and now we can play. 170 confirmed as what Bangladesh will need to win from 16 overs. Play returns at McLean Park. #NZvBAN,” said a tweet from the BlackCaps Twitter account upon resumption of play.
This too was later corrected to 171 only after the 13th over of the chase.
Bangladesh eventually fell 28 runs short of the DLS target.
“I don’t think I have been involved in a game before where batters go out and don’t know what the DLS target is. There was a lot of rain around. Nobody had any idea of how many we needed after five or six overs. I don’t think the game should have started until it was finalised, before there was a clear indication of what is required, and what we needed at certain stages. I don’t quite think it (the conduct of the match) was good enough this evening,” Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“(When we met the match referee) they were still waiting for the printouts and calculations to take place. I think if you are waiting, the game can’t start before you get it. What was explained now was that they normally get it one or two balls into the innings, but hadn’t received it yet. They were waiting for it. There were delays and all sorts of stuff. No excuses (for the defeat), but this is just very frustrating for us,” he said.
Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah, meanwhile, didn’t make much of the confusion. “I think there was a bit of confusion because we didn’t know what the DLS score was, it kept changing on the scoreboard. It can happen in the game. First five overs we were on track but we didn’t finish well enough,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham tweeted, “How is it possible to start a run chase without knowing what you’re chasing? Crazy stuff. #NZvBAN”
