Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo has vented his frustrations over last night’s chaotic Duckworth-Lewis-Stern mishap made by officials and their judgement around playable conditions in the rain.
Domingo took aim at the officials today after last night’s 28-run loss to the Black Caps in Napier via the DLS method after wet weather saw multiple stoppages to the match.
However, one delay was caused by the officials, not the weather, as there was confusion on the field as to what was Bangladesh’s target at the start of their innings.
Bangladesh thought they were chasing 148 runs from 16 overs but after nine balls the match was stopped and it was later communicated they actually needed 171.
Domingo has demanded a please-explain from experienced referee Jeff Crowe who was in charge of the T20, despite the New Zealander already apologising this morning.
“I don’t think I’ve been involved in a game before when batters go out and don’t know what the Duckworth-Lewis target is. With a lot of rain around, nobody had an idea as to how many we’d need after five overs, six overs… I’ve never been involved in a game like that before,” Domingo said.
“I don’t think the game should have started until it was finalised and there was a clear indication as to what was required, what we needed at certain stages. I didn’t think that was good enough.”
Domingo was asked what explanation he was given at the time which he said was that Crowe and others were waiting for printouts of the DLS calculations.
“If you’re waiting for it, the game can’t start till you get it. What was explained now, was that they normally get [the printout] one or two balls into the innings but they were still waiting… and they couldn’t delay the game much longer because you’d run out of overs… very frustrating.”
Besides the DLS issue, Domingo also demanded answers from on-field umpires Chris Brown and Wayne Knight who he believes let play continue through persistent rain while his team was in the field.
“I’ve never seen a team field for that long in that much rain. It was raining, the ball was wet and slippery… no excuses but it all seemed to stack against us this evening in terms of conditions,” Domingo said.
“I’ve never seen a game start while it’s raining again, while we came out for 4-5 overs. I don’t know if the rules have changed, but I was under the impression the covers don’t come off till the rain stops, and the first ball can’t get bowled until the rain stops. A very frustrating night for us all round.”
Bangladesh head to Auckland for tomorrow’s dead rubber T20 at Eden Bark still chasing their first win against the Black Caps in New Zealand. They’re currently 0-31.
“It’s a tough place and New Zealand are playing great cricket,” Domingo said.
“Our record here is not great. We’ve shown glimpses of what we can do but we’ve not been consistent enough.”
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