'We had a total we could defend' - Mills

Kyle Mills found himself facing a situation he wasn't supposed to when he arrived in Bangladesh couple of weeks ago as part of the ODI side. With regular captain Brendon McCullum and vice-captain Kane Williamson having returned home with injury it was up to him, as stand-in captain, to preside over New Zealand's second successive series drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh.

There is still a Twenty20 game on November 6 but with the Tests and ODIs over, New Zealand are yet to win a game on tour. This was their biggest chance as they set the home side a target of 308, a total never chased in this country by this team. Mills thought so too, until the Bangladesh batting line-up started to string together partnerships.

"I thought we had a total we could defend," Mills said. "The opening batters for Bangladesh played well and took the game away from us. Our spinners did a good job to bring it back for us somewhat, but the start they got created huge momentum for them to chase the total down.

"We are all very disappointed with the outcome of, not just today's match but the whole series. To go down 3-0 is extremely disappointing. It wasn't our plan when we came out here but we have to hand it to the Bangladesh side, they played exceptional cricket today."

Mills was incidentally the last man out when Bangladesh completed the 4-0 win three years ago, and the memories are fresh. He said that they knew how dangerous Bangladesh were at home but were not prepared for such a result now or then.

"This one's pretty fresh and raw. I got over the last one [in 2010], but it's still very disappointing. The last series we came in with expectations of winning the series quite comfortably. The scars from that series set us up for this series.

"We were quite wary of the Bangladesh side. They've got some very good players in these conditions, and you have to admire that. But we are going to take a number of positives, because there are positives over the last three games, moving forward into the Sri Lanka series and our home summer."

One of those positives which they can't actually take to Sri Lanka would be Ross Taylor's unbeaten 107 because the experienced batsman has been summoned back home to prepare for the New Zealand international summer. But a forceful 85 from Colin Munro and contributions from Tom Latham and Anton Devcich would still encourage them. "Ross Taylor's innings today was a classy innings of an international cricket batsman. He crafted it beautifully. Latham played a hand, Colin Munro got an opportunity today and he grasped it, he played a magnificent knock.

"Throughout the series I think Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham really stood up as well. Young guys standing up is a great sign for New Zealand cricket, and definitely moving forward over the next 15 months," said Mills.

One of New Zealand's problems has been the absence of Daniel Vettori, the allrounder with vast experience and a strong record against Bangladesh. "We've missed Vettori over the last two-three years really. It's great having Dan on the side. When Dan walks out with us in the eleven we are a better side for it, but many a series we have played without Daniel Vettori."