NZ vs Ban: At the half-way mark, we were pretty happy, says Latham

Christchurch [New Zealand], March 23 (ANI): After playing a match-winning knock of 110 in the second ODI against Bangladesh, New Zealand skipper Tom Latham on Tuesday said that his side was happy with the target they were chasing.
Skipper Latham scored a brilliant century to guide New Zealand to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second ODI here on Tuesday. With this win, the hosts have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Latham played an unbeaten knock of 110 to help New Zealand chase down the target of 272 runs. Devon Conway also scored 72.
"We talk about guys standing up in different situations and I thought the bowlers did a great job. Santner was really good in the middle overs. At the half-way mark, we were pretty happy. We didn't quite get to the good start with the bat, but we did well to not lose too many wickets. The surface was a little tricky, but nice to get over the line and build some partnerships out in the middle," said Latham after winning the second ODI.
"He (Conway) has done well domestically in the last couple of years and brought that form to international cricket, very happy for him. Nice to win the series and our focus will be on Wellington for the next game," he added.
Talking about his innings, Latham said: "It is nice to have a match-winning contribution. At the halfway mark I thought we did a really good job with the ball as we knew Bangladesh would come out fighting, they also had a few early wickets but for us it was about building partnerships and I managed to do that with Devon. Nice to finish it a couple of overs early.
"They (the spinners) did grip a little bit which made it a little difficult, they were always in the game and we had to take our time. Devon played another nice innings and got those partnerships in the middle. The bowlers are always adjusting according to the surface and keep small targets. Looking forward to Wellington and putting on another good performance," he added.
After being asked to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a poor start with Liton Das being dismissed for a duck in just the second over of the innings. Opener Tamim Iqbal was then joined by Soumya Sarkar on the field. While Bangladesh kept losing wickets, Mithun played brilliantly and helped his side post a respectable total of 271 with the help of his unbeaten 73-run knock. (ANI)