New Zealand set 331-run target against Bangladesh

New Zealand set a target of 331-run for Bangladesh in the third one-day international in Dunedin on Wednesday as they seek a 3-0 series whitewash.

The Black Caps cruised to 330 for six after losing the toss and being sent in to bat, with Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham all making half centuries.

Ross Taylor hogged most of the applause for his fine knock of 69. He brought up a couple of wonderful milestones during the innings. 

He reached 8000 ODI runs in style. The 34-year-old right-hander blazed a trademark cut shot to the point boundary off Mashrafe Mortaza in the 28th over.

He was the fourth fastest of all time to reach the mark by number of innings (218). Only Indian greats Virat Kohli (175 innings) and Sourav Ganguly (200) and South African AB de Villiers (182) managed the feat quicker.

The crowd was on its feet shortly after. This time it was when Taylor overhauled Stephen Fleming as the leading scorer for New Zealand in ODIs.

He tucked a delivery from Mehidy Hasan around the corner to eclipse Flemings’ mark of 8007 runs.

Henry Nicholls batted nicely at No 3 for 64, and some heavy-hitting from Tom Latham (59), Jimmy Neesham (37) and Colin de Grandhomme (37 not out from 15) helped pushed the score well past 300.

Mustafizur Rahman got hammered for 93 from his 10 overs - his most expensive spell in one-day cricket. He did pick up two wickets, however.