New Zealand captain Tom Latham said on Thursday that Mustafizur Rahman’s command showed up in full measure during the series-deciding third ODI at Chattogram, where Bangladesh sealed a 55-run victory. Latham pointed to the left-arm pacer’s use of slower deliveries as the key factor, arguing that New Zealand were repeatedly undone by the variation as the hosts successfully defended their total. Bangladesh’s win came thanks to a century from Najmul Hossain Shanto and a five-wicket performance from Mustafizur, who starred in his return after injury.
Mustafizur, who previously took an ODI five-for as recently as 2019 at Lord’s Cricket Ground, delivered again in Chattogram with figures of 5 for 43. His haul made him the first fast bowler to claim a five-wicket strike in that venue. It also marked his sixth ODI five-wicket haul overall, the highest tally by any Bangladeshi bowler in the format. Among left-arm pacers, he now sits level with Wasim Akram and Trent Boult on six such five-wicket innings, while Mitchell Starc remains the only bowler ahead with nine.
Latham praised Mustafizur’s craft and experience, saying the bowler’s ability to swing the new ball and then transition into slower balls proved decisive. “He showed his world class experience. We know that he obviously swings the new ball, and his slower balls— a couple of guys got undone by that,” Latham remarked after the match.
The New Zealand skipper also suggested that Mustafizur had been close to featuring earlier in the series but was sidelined by a knock that kept him out of the first two games. “I think he must have been very close to playing the first game and had a blow that ruled him out from the first two and he bowled fantastically well and full credit to him,” he added.
Latham’s comments extended beyond Mustafizur as well, with the captain impressed by Nahid Rana’s pace and development. He highlighted Rana as a talent in the making for Bangladesh, noting that the young bowler’s speed and skill set were evident even on conditions that were not especially conducive to pace.
Rana, who was named Player of the Series after taking eight wickets across the ODI run, drew high praise from Latham. “He is a quality bowler already and he is going to be great bowler in the future and just talking to him before and he said he is just 23 and someone runs in and bowls 145 or close to 150 on reasonably slow surface shows the skill set he has and the X-factor he has and obviously bowling fantastically at the moment and obviously a star in the making for Bangladesh and that is for sure,” Latham said.
Latham further reflected on the tour as a learning opportunity for New Zealand, particularly because they entered the series with a relatively fresh-looking squad. He noted that with many of the players not having extensive exposure to Bangladesh or subcontinent conditions, the experience would be valuable for their growth moving forward.
“I think anytime you come to these conditions or conditions that are foreign, it’s important that you learn from it and you grow from it and you take that into experiences that you have in the future. As a whole, a lot of these guys haven’t necessarily been to Bangladesh or been to the subcontinent, so it’s going to be a great learning,” Latham said. He also pointed out that New Zealand’s senior players are currently engaged in the Indian Premier League and the Pakistan Super League, while the New Zealand A side is set to tour Sri Lanka.
Looking at the wider lessons from the series, Latham said the side benefited from being tested under pressure, both in batting and bowling. “Whenever you are put under pressure, you certainly learn and I’m sure the guys from a batting point of view and a bowling point of view will certainly take a lot of learning’s from this tour. Hopefully, when we’re put in this position again or guys are put in this position in the future, then they’ll obviously look back on this series and see a whole lot of growth and a whole lot of learning,” he added.
The captain, however, also acknowledged that the more experienced players should have taken greater control during the contest. “I think anytime that you have a reasonably inexperienced side, it’s important that your experienced players are in a position to take a little bit of control and be the ones to have that significant contribution. Unfortunately, the names that you’ve just mentioned, myself included, obviously weren’t able to contribute to having that significant performance to put games in favor for us,” he said.
Concluding his assessment, Latham underlined that despite having played more matches than some teammates, the focus remains on learning and adjusting to unfamiliar conditions. “So as I said, even though I’ve played a few more games than some of these guys, it’s always about learning and growing. When you come to these conditions again, you look back on experiences and see what you might have done differently or if it was just an execution thing. So as a batting unit, we’ll look at that and see if there are things that we can do slightly differently,” he added.
