Black Caps search for rare series whitewash

Bangladesh have largely put the New Zealand public to sleep on their brief cricket tour of New Zealand.

Now, Dan Vettori's Black Caps are keen to put the tourists to bed in the third and final one-day international in Christchurch tomorrow.

The day-night fixture at AMI Stadium presents the New Zealanders with a golden opportunity to complete a rare 3-0 series whitewash, something they also achieved over Bangladesh at home in late 2007.

The gulf between the two teams has led to two one-sided encounters in Napier and Dunedin, with Vettori's men coasting to victory on both occasions by comprehensive margins.

Bangladesh have not even been competitive to date although Vettori is loathe to write them off completely and has warned his players against any hints of complacency.

"We still have to expect Bangladesh to get better and play a stronger form of cricket therefore our own game against them has to improve," Vettori said today after his side trained at New Zealand Cricket's high performance centre at Lincoln, outside Christchurch.

"We obviously want to win the series 3-0 at take that momentum into the test (one-off test against the tourists starting in Hamilton on Monday."

Vettori has ticked off most boxes in the captain's to-do list in the series so far but he has identified his side's bowling in the latter stages of the opposition innings as an area needing remedial work.

New Zealand charged to a five-wicket victory in the second match in Dunedin on Monday after running down a moderate target of 184 with more than 22 overs to spare.

Bangladesh, whose innings was in ruins at 25 for five and 46 for six, them something to chase thanks only to Mushfiqur Rahim and Naeem Islam, who collaborated in a stand of 101 for the seventh wicket.

The New Zealanders conceded 92 runs in the last 10 overs, and 59 from the final five, leaving Vettori and team management seeking considerable improvements in the execution of the death bowling duties.

Fast bowler Daryl Tuffey was one of the bowlers taken to task, but he will not be playing tomorrow due to a hamstring strain, with Otago offspinner Nathan McCullum added to the squad in his place.

In Tuffey's absence, newcomer Andy McKay will be entrusted with the workload from one end in the closing overs tomorrow, after taking two for 17 off his 10 overs in Dunedin when he had completed his full allocation by the 30th over.

Vettori said New Zealand were far from alone in seeking refinement in their death bowling.

"It is a cause for concern for most captains around the world," he said.

"It is not the easiest thing to do. It is a very aggressive time for the batsmen and if we can limit that damage it helps.

"It's an incredibly difficult job to do. A fast bowler's lot is not easy these days - bowling at the start, at the death and during the power plays."

The New Zealand batsmen have the wood on the tourists, having accumulated their runs at more than six runs an over through the two matches.

Compared to Vettori, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has any number of issues to deal with.

His batsmen are not firing as a unit while the bowlers are leaking runs after the shine of the new ball has worn off.

Their best batsman, Mohammad Ashraful, is overdue some success after making just five and one, the bowling is threadbare and they are left hoping for a huge turnaround just to stretch the New Zealanders.

Teams:

New Zealand (from): Dan Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, James Franklin, Neil Broom, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Ian Butler, Andy McKay, Brendon McCullum.

Bangladesh (from): Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdur Razzak, Naeem Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Aftab Ahmed.

- NZPA