The slow bowling in the middle phase of the game off the all-rounder Michael Bracewell played a huge part in New Zealand’s five-wicket win over Bangladesh in their Champions Trophy game in Rawalpindi on Monday, according to skipper Mitchell Santner.
The uniformity of results helped sail New Zealand into the semifinals alongside India, while hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh were kicked out from the mega event.
Rachin Ravindra (112) and Michael Bracewell (4/26) were the two stars for New Zealand on the night.
“Feels good to qualify. Knew that Bangladesh would be a challenge,” Santner said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
There was no one better than Bracewell as they managed to pull things back with the ball. It’s hard to take wickets in the middle overs in ODIs, but Bracewell was terrific out there. He’s a quality bowler now. His ability to change his pace on those wickets is really outstanding. He bowls a lot to right-handers, too,” he added.
He was also gushing in praise when it came to Ravindra, who anchored the chase of 237 after initial setbacks.
“He’s doing those Rachin things. Loves these ICC events. Never looked like he left the game. Probably not as fluid as he would have liked, but once he gets going, hard to stop him. His partnerships were good, too,” Santner said.
About playing India in the final group game on Sunday in Dubai, he said: “It will be a different challenge on a different surface. Might be slower.”
The highest run-scorer for Bangladesh, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, was disappointed with the loss of wickets in the middle overs.
“We started well today. But we lost so many wickets in the middle overs. We did not bat properly. It was a good pitch to bat on, and we needed to have built two big partnerships,” Shanto said.
“I think the game vs Pakistan (on February 27) is an important game. Would be good to finish on a high. We need to improve as a batting and fielding side,” he added
