Bangladesh stutter to 236 for 9
New Zealand were poised for a whitewash of Bangladesh after inflicting another collapse on the visitors. After openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes added 102 for the first wicket, Bangladesh lost 7 wickets for 77 runs. Nurul Hasan`s cameo - 44 off 39 balls, including three fours and a six - then hauled his team to 236 for 9.
Nurul batted sensibly before opening up in the slog overs. He mowed Matt Henry over midwicket and hooked him for back-to-back boundaries in the last over of Bangladesh`s innings before skying a return catch off the third ball. Henry ran back and completed a superb catch.
It was New Zealand`s fielding that set Bangladesh back. Neil Broom led the way in the field with two brilliant catches while Luke Ronchi took a good catch and effected the run-out of Shakib Al Hasan. Jeetan Patel, playing his first ODI in more than seven years, also made his presence felt with a fine running catch at long-off.
Having opted to bat on a sluggish Saxton Oval surface, Bangladesh got off to a positive start. Tamim started off with an edged four past wide slip before regaining his composure with a number of straight drives, a lofted cover drive, and a tip past the wicketkeeper`s left pad.
He reached his fifty off 71 balls. His opening partner, Kayes, had made the early running with punches past point, powerful pulls, and firm sweeps.
The century opening partnership, Bangladesh`s first in 13 months, ended when Broom ran back from short third man and pulled off a spectacular one-handed catch to dismiss Kayes for 44 off 62 balls, including five fours and a six.
Sabbir Rahman had an eventful 14-ball stay in which he struck four boundaries, copped a blow on the chest, and then got strangled down the leg side. Two overs later, Mahmudullah pulled Southee to short midwicket to finish the series with only four runs, rounding off the worst ODI series of his career.
Tamim was next to go in the 31st over when Broom ran back from point and tracked a top-edged slog. The shot encapsulated Tamim`s frustration; he had not scored a boundary in ten overs leading to the dismissal.
The collapse was only hastened with the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain - out left-before to Patel who finished with 1 for 40 - and Tanbir Hayder.
Mashrafe Mortaza and Nurul then arrested the slide with a 33-run stand before the Bangladesh captain holed out to long-off. Hasan struck the only boundaries in the last 10 overs in which Bangladesh scored 57 runs. For the hosts, Mitchell Santner and Henry took two wickets each.
Source: espncricinfo
