Brendan McCullum broke a few Twenty20 international records in New Zealand's 59-run win over Bangladesh in the Group D opener in Pallekele, but his spectacular 123 off just 58 balls more importantly gave his team the breathing space in the tournament's toughest group. McCullum broke the record for the highest score in Twenty20 internationals when he went past Richard Levi's 117 made earlier this year (which, coincidentally, came against New Zaland), and has also become the first batsman to score two hundreds in this format.
The innings was more than enough to ward off any threat from the Bangladesh batsman, who were facing their second-highest chase. Kyle Mills gave them no chance of a quick recovery by removing Tamim Iqbal off the third ball, the left-hand batsman rigid at the crease and caught easily by Martin Guptill. In his next over, Mills took the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, who continued his poor day by chipping one to Kane Williamson at cover. The same combination removed captain Mushfiqur Rahim, the catch taken at deep midwicket. Tim Southee continued his good form by also picking up three wickets, but it would be Mills' performance that would be most encouraging for New Zealand, after he had crashed into McCullum in their last competitive Twenty20 just ten days ago.
McCullum, too, looked well over the effects of that collision. In an hour and 12 minutes, he produced not only a scintillating display of big-hitting but also showed how to change gears in a 20-over innings without wasting too many deliveries. His knock is the prototype that all modern-day coaches would want batsmen to strive for, though some of McCullum's shots can hardly be imitated without his energy, authority and imagination.
Bangladesh lacked the authority because they were not the ones in command while fielding. Mushfiqur would be disappointed with his fielders letting him down. The number of fumbles and misfields from the beginning showed how stiff they were and it also meant that a costly overthrow (by Mashrafe Mortaza in the seventh over) or a dropped catch of McCullum (by Mashrafe in the 19th) was only a matter of time.
But Mushfiqur too was at fault by only sticking to Plan A, which was to rotate the left-arm spinners according to the phases of the Twenty20 innings. He didn't actually rotate his bowlers according to who was at the crease or the acceleration of the batsmen. When McCullum was new at the crease and had trouble getting after Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim took off the senior left-arm spinner so that his two overs could be used later. It was becoming quite obvious who would bowl when and, as a result, the batsmen could easily read what the bowler was about to dish out - after Razzak had bowled two good overs at the top, it was quite obvious that Mushfiqur would ask him to bowl the final over.
But sometimes a batting performance like McCullum's doesn't leave the captain with much choice. From the classic backfoot punch through the covers to finishing off the New Zealand innings with two pulled sixes, McCullum was the firestarter, anchor and finisher of the innings.
He freed his arms for the first time when he slapped Shafiul Islam dutifully through the covers. In the next over came his first six, a typical smash over the covers, and he followed it up with his second an over later. More than those two sixes though it was how he deflated Bangladesh's energy by going after their best bowler. With Shakib conceding 20 off his first two overs, including two big sixes, Bangladesh started to look less inspired as their best player was made to look pedestrian.