Colin Munro will remember his fourth One Day International for some time for his whirlwind 85 from 77 balls, despite the BLACKCAPS coming out without the win. Munro showed no fear and a full range of shots in partnership with Ross Taylor, taking the innings by the scruff and the attack to the Bangladesh bowling line up.
A fixture in the Auckland side, where he averages 47.45 in First Class and 38.96 in List A cricket, Fatullah was Munro's fourth One Day International for New Zealand, after two matches in January in South Africa and an appearance in England in Nottingham. "We had a lot to play for, some would say it was a dead rubber, but my last international game was in England and I got out first ball, so I had a lot to prove yesterday. An area of my game I've been working on is against the spin, so to come here and score runs in my first game was very pleasing."
Munro batted with Taylor for 22.3 three overs, and the pair put on 130 runs at 5.77, taking the BLACKCAPS from a potentially precarious 101-3 to a dominant 231-4. Munro enjoyed batting with his experienced team mate: "I thanked him for the partnership - it was the first time we'd batted together, and it was awesome bating with him; he said that I'd taken the pressure off him and he could just play his game and then he did what he did at the end, it was very pleasing."
Talking about the stunning switch hit shots, Munro said "It's the way I play - I've developed that shot over the last two or three years, and it's probably a good shot to have over in the subcontinent when you've got four quality spinners bowling at you, it's one of your only boundary options available with the new rules, if you've got backward point open and they're bowling into the pads.
Playing in front of the big noisy sold out crowed did not phase him at all: "It was awesome. The Bangladeshis go absolutely nuts, and it's amazing to a part of and experience that. Facing my first ball with Rubel running in, the crowd was absolutely deafening, so it was a good experience."
While disappointed to be on the losing side, Munro is excited about the next leg of the tour in Sri Lanka and staking his claim for more international appearances. "Obviously you want to get a win when you perform like that, but it sets me up for the next game and the next series coming up in Sri Lanka, so hopefully I put my hand up to say that I can play in the sub continent, and going forward to Sri Lanka, I can play that first one-dayer. Obviously you want to be playing for your country as regularly as possible, the ultimate would be to play all forms, but where I'm at at at the moment, white ball cricket is where I'm strongest. I just have to keep doing what I'm doing, you can't reply on one score every now and again, you've got to keep backing it up."
