Patel admits NZ are struggling against spin

New Zealand coach Dipak Patel admitted his side is struggling to cope with playing spin in sub-continent conditions after he watched them slip to a three-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Colombo on Sunday.

"It is fair to say that in these conditions we have been found wanting against the spinners," he said.

"We are struggling on the slower wickets as our players are used to the ball coming on (to the bat) a bit more.

"We are learning a lesson of how to play in these conditions and we have got better and better in every match but it is a short tournament and we have got to put our thinking caps on to come up with some answers.

"We weathered the storm early on as their opening bowlers bowled well as our openers played well.

"But then we lost our way against their spinners and we never got any partnerships going to get us to between 220 and 250," Patel added.

But he was keen to stress it was not all doom and gloom for the side captained by Marc Ellison despite the defeat that comes on the back of losses in both warm-up matches they played.

"Our bowling and fielding was outstanding defending a small total, it was 100 percent better than the warm-up games," said Patel.

"Perhaps we could have won it but in the end they took their chances, played positively and overall they were the better side," he added.

Defeat is a severe blow to New Zealand's hopes of reaching the Super League quarter-finals but Patel remained positive the side could still qualify.

"Our destiny is in our own hands," he said. "We have got to beat Uganda well, beat Pakistan and then look at run-rates.

"We have not done ourselves a huge favour with this loss but there is good fighting spirit in the side and we will fight on."

Bangladesh coach Allister de Winter said the victory released a lot of pressure on his side, which is bidding to reach the Super League for the first time in its history.

"We have made a habit of trying to start tournaments well and so getting this win on the board was important," he said.

"We were struggling, still needing 50 with just four wickets left, but a good partnership got us within 10 runs and it was a fighting result.

"It was a challenge batting for us in those conditions as the wicket had not been rolled yesterday (Saturday) because of the rain and after we slipped to 5-2 we needed some good partnerships.

"Extras is an area of concern for us (Bangladesh conceded 33, including 22 wides) and we need to get some consistency in our top six batting but our new ball bowlers bowled really well," he added.

New Zealand's next match in Group A is against Uganda on Tuesday while Bangladesh face Pakistan on Wednesday. Only two sides can progress through to the Super League quarter-finals.