Bangladesh vs New Zealand: ICC deems Mirpur pitch used in 2nd Test as ‘unsatisfactory’

Mirpur: The Mirpur pitch, which hosted the second and final Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand, has received one demerit point after the International Cricket Council rated it as unsatisfactory. ICC match referee David Boon in his assessment said that “the pitch may have been under prepared" and that “deliveries from spin bowlers often went over the batter’s shoulder when playing forward and then occasionally stayed very low.” New Zealand won the match by four wickets to level the two-match series, thanks to Glenn Phillips’ allround performance. The match overall saw just 178.1 overs of action over the course of three-and-a-half days after all of Day 2 and some sizable chunks of the first and third days got chopped off due to rain and wet outfields, making it the shortest ever test in Mirpur. A total of 36 wickets fell in that period. The report has been forwarded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), which now has 14 days to appeal against the sanction.