Three weeks after sweeping Australia 3-0 in a series at home, New Zealand lost by two wickets to lowly-ranked Bangladesh on Tuesday in
a World Cup warm-up match.

Gillespie was unavailable after an acute viral infection spread from his head to his right shoulder, causing spinal and shoulder nerve pain and rendering him unable to bowl.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said Gillespie had the virus before leaving home, but conceded that a 40-hour trip to the Caribbean had not helped the paceman's condition.

"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."

Another check

Gillespie will be reassessed by team medical staff on Friday and was in doubt for New Zealand's second and last warmup match against
Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval.

New Zealand open their World Cup campaign against England in St Lucia on March 16 and need to beat 1996 champions Sri Lanka
to regain some confidence ahead of the tournament.

Mashrafee Murtaza did most of the damage for Bangladesh, taking four wickets and then finishing off an unbeaten 30 from 14 balls with consecutive sixes to clinch the win.

Bangladesh reached 230 for eight with an over to spare in reply to New Zealand's 226.

Despite the gloom, Fleming saw a couple of positives from the loss.

Jacob Oram returned from a finger injury with an impressive 88 and bowled economically and, "the only other positive for us is that
this wasn't a pool match" in the World Cup.

"But it shows how tough this tournament can be." (AP)