KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand cricket team have been called many things of late, but predictable is certainly not one of them.
Nine days out from their World Cup opener against England, they suffered a two-wicket loss to regular whipping boys Bangladesh in a warm-up match in Bridgetown, Barbados, today.
The shock result came just three weeks after their euphoric 3-0 one-day series humbling of Australia, but Bangladesh paid little respect to their opponents' form as they passed New Zealand's 226 with two wickets and six balls to spare.
There's no need for New Zealand to hit the panic button after today's glitch, but a win over Sri Lanka in their final pre-tournament hitout on Friday takes on more importance as they look to maintain some momentum before playing England.
Skipper Stephen Fleming admitted he was at a loss to explain today's result.
"There's not a lot we can say, I guess it's a result that just shakes you up," Fleming said.
"We just didn't play well, I don't want to give any excuses. It gives us some headaches and I suppose you can say it's a wake-up call before the tournament starts.
"The only other positive for us is that this wasn't a pool match but it shows how tough this tournament can be."
Bangladesh tore through New Zealand's top order batting to reduce them to 75 for six after Fleming won the toss and chose to bat.
They stumbled to 21 for three and the situation failed to improve as Mashrafe Mortaza, who finished with four for 44, caused havoc.
Allrounder Jacob Oram, fractured finger and all, stepped up with a belligerent 88, putting on 105 for the seventh wicket with Brendon McCullum, who made 46.
McCullum conceded that on a pitch that flattened out as the match progressed the New Zealanders fell 30 runs short of compiling a defendable total.
"They came out firing and were 60-odd without loss, and when you're chasing 220-odd it's the ideal start," McCullum told Radio Sport.
"I thought we came back nicely. Dan (Vettori) and Jeetan (Patel) bowled well, but at the end of the day 226 wasn't enough, but we probably could have made it enough if we bowled and fielded better than we did."
Javed Omar and Tamim Iqbal rattled on 85 for the opening wicket for Bangladesh.
Iqbal, 17 and with just four one-day internationals behind him, hit a breezy 46 from 48 balls.
Vettori and offspinner Patel applied the screws to restrict Bangladesh's chase, but Mortaza capped a fine day's work as he ended the match in style by blasting two successive sixes off James Franklin in the penultimate over.
He hit 30 from 14 balls as Bangladesh reached 230 for eight.
McCullum conceded the loss was a timely wake-up call, but the team were not too despondent.
"The pride comes in and you never want to lose when you're playing for New Zealand, but there is a bigger picture.
"It's tough losing to Bangladesh, but ... it's not a bad thing either to come down after the euphoria we were at after the Australia series, to give us a little prick and bring us down a couple of pegs."
The feeling in the camp has been tempered further with confirmation paceman Mark Gillespie is suffering from a viral infection.
Gillespie was rested from today's match due to an arm which became temporarily numbed after the long flight to the West Indies.
Radio New Zealand reported Gillespie has contracted an acute disorder related to a virus that affects the nerves in the spine and shoulder region.
He visited a specialist and his condition will be assessed on Friday.
- NZPA
