In game one between Aotearoa and Bangladesh, we saw the kiwis play the role of the bully and do as they pleased in pursuit of victory. Game two was a bit different however, with Bangladesh showing greater intent with the ball and in the field, as well as showing signs of a impressive batting performance only to crumble. We were first treated to the typical struggles of a touring sub-continent team and now we've see the double-edge sword of a having youthful talent.

Without Mushfiqur Rahim to act as another experienced head in their middle order, Bangladesh blew a great start in their chase. The difference between the best teams and those in the tier below is that the best teams stick to their guns for 50 overs, they stay focused on victory and execute their skills throughout, not just for 25 overs. 

The Blackcaps did just that in both their innings. Despite the Bangladesh bowlers enjoying a funky pitch that offered seam, a touch of swing and a slower pace, the Blackcaps were able to chip away for 50 overs and earn a very respectable 251; they could have very easily been dismissed for 180-200. 

With the ball, the kiwis kept plugging away. There wasn't any of the movement from the first innings for the kiwi bowlers, yet they did their best to dot it up and while everyone was quick to question Kane Williamson's captaincy in Australia, he pulled a trick out of his backside in bowling himself. 

The bowling rotation, including Williamson and obviously Neil Broom's century caught my eye from this game. Williamson bowled Colin Munro as the first change option, with Munro's dibbly-dobblers nicely suited to how the pitch was playing in the first innings. Munro wasn't overly successful, neither was Jimmy Neesham with both of the seaming all-rounders only bowling 2 overs for 6rpo and 6.50rpo respectively. 

Yesterday included a minor epiphany for me as I came around to thinking that Trent Boult and Tim Southee never really bowl badly. I do think there's better opening bowling combinations around the world, but Williamson can rely heavily on these two to bowl their overs, pick up a wicket or two and concede less than 4rpo. This allows Williamson to give Munro a few overs, to bowl himself a few overs, to give Mitchell Santner some freedom and to use Lockie Ferguson as a strike-weapon. 

It's funny how much of the talk around Ferguson can be linked back to the kiwi way of thinking about a fast bowler. We're so used to medium-pace bowlers who have to rely on accuracy over speed, meaning they are more economical which makes Ferguson's figures stand out like a sore thumb. Then there's the desire to see Ferguson bowl 150km/h for 10 overs, with former internationals who bowled max 135km/h saying that Ferguson needs to be fitter to bowl faster for longer. 

Ferguson only needed one searing yorker to back up the good fortune the Blackcaps had in running out Sabbir Rahman. That's what a strike-weapon does and Ferguson's one delivery turned the tables, sparking a string of single-figure scores from Bangladesh's middle order. 

Once again, I need to highlight Ferguson's First-Class record which is his best format so far (regular readers can skip this).  Ferguson's got a FC bowling average of 25.09 and only concedes 3.31rpo, which means that he must be doing something right in bowling far more overs in Plunket Shield cricket than limited overs cricket.

Mr Broom was the only real stand out with the bat and he showcased why he's been able to dominate the domestic scene for a number of years now. Broom has a wide range of strokes and scored runs all around the wicket in his century, plus he's well trained in building a 50-over innings having been most successful in this format. It's hard not to like Broom, although we need to keep in mind that Ross Taylor will more than likely score runs in domestic cricket to seal the deal on a return to that No.4 spot. 

There aren't too many other vacant spots in that middle order as Broom isn't much of a bowler and while Munro and Neesham couldn't impact this game with the ball, they are viable options for a few overs. Broom's ODI history isn't quite as flattering as his domestic one-day work and his only other score in 24 games over 37, was 71 back in 2010.

Guess who Broom was playing when he hit 71? Bangladesh, in Napier, on a typically flat deck.

Broom's now got a century and a half-century to his name, both in Aotearoa against Bangladesh and Broom has scored 175 runs in 13 games outside Aotearoa at an average of 15.90. The lad has done everything he can to get his Blackcaps call up by pure domination in the one-day format in Aotearoa across the last 10 years or so and in England during our winter, Broom has taken his chance to the fullest with this century, I just can't see it Broom's return to the Blackcaps ending up as a bunch of roses.

For some context on Broom's ODI work, compare it to that of Taylor. Everyone knows that Taylor is class, but people love to chop Taylor down as well, so let's just compare some numbers...

Broom's ODI career outside of Aotearoa: 13 games, 175 runs, 37 high score, 15.90avg.

Taylor's ODI career outside of Aotearoa: 102 games, 3,486 runs, 131* high score, 41.50avg.

Oh, I see that our ol' mate from the Kiwi County Tour has been called up to the Blackcaps squad for the last ODI. Lord Jeetz (Jeetan Patel) gets an abundance of love on the Kiwi County Tour as he's been the best bowler on England's County scene for the last few years and as we love our #FlyingKiwis, Lord Jeetz deserves all sorts of respect. In the Blackcaps context though, it's very weird.

Patel has been selected under the premise that he'll spin the ball away from Bangladesh's lefties, on a Nelson pitch that is a tad slower than other kiwi decks. That makes sense and specific reasons regarding Patel's selection will be chewed up by the mainstream media, as always though I'm offering an alternate view; we've bowled Bangladesh out twice without him, so why do we need to bring in Patel to do this job?

Not only is there no need for Patel's offies to spin away from Bangladesh's left-handers, there's also six bowlers with better Super Smash records than Patel's and the line rolled out about Patel - along with the lefty thing - was about Patel's Super Smash work. So here's the Super Smash records of our spinners (as of 11am Friday)...

Tarun Nethula: 8 games, 30.3 overs, 11 wickets, 23.09avg, 8.32rpo.

George Worker: 8 games, 23 overs, 9 wickets, 19.77avg, 7.73rpo.

Todd Astle: 7 games, 26.2 overs, 8 wickets, 23.12avg, 7.02rpo.

Luke Woodcock: 8 games, 23 overs, 7 wickets, 22.57avg, 6.86rpo.

Jono Boult: 8 games, 23 overs, 6 wickets, 25.66avg, 6.69rpo.

Mark Chapman: 8 games, 19 overs, 6 wickets, 26.50avg, 8.36rpo.

Jeetan Patel: 8 games, 30.2 overs, 6 wickets, 38avg, 7.51rpo.

Marty Kain: 7 games, 19 overs, 5 wickets, 27.40avg, 7.21rpo.

Ish Sodhi: 8 games, 23 overs, 4 wickets, 45.50avg, 7.91rpo.

Broom is doing a fine job in plugging a hole for the Blackcaps at No.4 with Ross Taylor absent and the likes of Tom Bruce and Henry Nicholls needing a bit more time. No dramas there, just be warned that things might not finish as well as it's started with this series. 

The selection of Patel is another one of these confuzzling selections that the Blackcaps selectors and Mike Hesson are making a habit of.