ESPNcricinfo
After being skittled for their joint-lowest total in T20I cricket in the series opener against Bangladesh, New Zealand have shown improvement over the next four matches despite losing the series 3-2. Their captain Tom Latham has been central to both the victories, following up his maiden T20I fifty in the second match with another crafty half-century in the fifth T20I.
On Friday, Latham worked his way around a middle-order wobble and launched New Zealand from 83 for 4 in the 11th over to 161 for 5. Latham was on a run-a-ball 29 at one point, but teed off in the 19th over, when he lined up Taskin Ahmed for two sixes and a four in four balls. He eventually finished with an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls.
"It was obviously nice to spend a little bit of time in the middle," Latham said. "Haven't played a lot of T20 cricket for New Zealand but also for Canterbury over the last couple of years. For me, it's just about finding a way in these conditions that are so foreign to us and probably a little bit harder than what we expected. So, for me it's about, I guess, do the role as best as you can and it was nice I could do that."
At the end of the fourth T20I, in which New Zealand subsided to 93 all out, their coach Glenn Pocknall admitted that his side was about ten runs short. Latham said that New Zealand didn't panic, heading into the final match, and backed themselves to turn in a collective performance.
None of these players on the Bangladesh tour are part of New Zealand's squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup, but this stint in trying conditions was an important step in their growth, according to Latham.
"I think a lot of these guys haven't played in the subcontinent before, so for them to have exposure to a different brand of cricket and a different way of cricket is going to be good for them and good for New Zealand cricket, Latham said.
"Over the recent years, we've had some good results in the subcontinent across all three formats. So, the more we play in these conditions the more we are able to learn, we push our games forward."
