We still need to improve - Mortaza

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said his team must perform better to build on their win in the first ODI against New Zealand. Bangladesh won by nine runs using the Duckworth/Lewis method, but Mortaza mentioned a number of areas in which the team needed to improve.

"Our fielding was not up to the mark and the middle-order batting was also a concern for us," Mortaza said. "Most of the top-order batsmen got starts but could not carry it on."

Mortaza turned his ankle in his second over and was forced to watch the match from the sidelines. While he wished he could have contributed to the victory, he said the win was the important thing and made him forget all about the pain. "All credit must go to the boys who played brilliantly as a unit to win the game, especially Shakib [Al Hasan] who was great. One bowler was short but it was made up brilliantly."

Bangladesh's total of 228 was 15 to 20 runs short of their target, according to Mortaza, but the team was confident it could defend the score. "New Zealand got off to a good start but we bounced back brilliantly. We knew that it would not be easy for New Zealand to chase down the total if we took two or three early wickets. Riyad [Mahmudullah] and Naeem [Islam] both gave good support.

"This is a nice birthday gift for me," said Mortaza, who turned 27 yesterday.

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori was disappointed with his side's failure to chase down a target he thought was gettable. Their revised target was 210, but they had only 37 overs to chase it in. "Any loss is disappointing but we should have chased the score, but we lost wickets at regular intervals and at crucial times," he said.

Vettori was full of praise for Shakib, who made a brisk half-century to take Bangladesh past 200, and then took four wickets, including a double-strike in the 15th over to remove the rampant Brendon McCullum and Grant Elliott. "His batting late in the innings gave them the impetus," Vettori said, "and his bowling posed a danger."