Mustafizur, Nasum rattle New Zealand but rain has final say

New Zealand 136 for 5 (Young 58, Nicholls 44, Mustafizur 3-27, Nasum 2-21) vs Bangladesh. Match abandoned due to rain.

Bangladesh restricted New Zealand to 136 in 33.4 overs in the first ODI in Mirpur before the match was called off due to persistent rain and lightning.

Mustafizur Rahman picked three wickets, while Nasum Ahmed struck twice on a tricky pitch where fast bowlers saw the ball sticking in the surface and spinners got plenty of turn and bounce.

Will Young grifted his way to a 91-ball 58 after New Zealand lost early wickets, while Henry Nicholls was slightly quicker in getting to 44, as the two helped the visitors rebuild, but the innings belonged to the Bangladesh bowlers. But it all came to nothing in the end due to inclement weather.

There were two rain interruptions, and the second one ended up making it impossible to continue the game.

Bangladesh had won the toss and opted to field, and the match started after a spell of rain between the toss and the first ball.

Bangladesh quicks Mustafizur and Tanzim Hasan Sakib started with tight lines and lengths and New Zealand worked their way to nine runs when rain stopped play in the middle of the fifth over.

Play resumed after a two-hour delay, with the match reduced to 42 overs a side.

Nasum Ahmed came on to bowl immediately after the rain break and instantly started to generate a prodigious turn. Young saw out a maiden from him and Mustafizur struck with the first ball of the next over, getting an edge from Allen that was caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan. After another Nasum maiden over, Mustafizur had his second, Chad Bowes this time edging a back-of-length delivery to Nurul.

Young, who stepped out to check-drive Nasum for his first boundary, rebuilt for New Zealand with Nicholls, who was also positive against the spinners with his sweeps. They dealt in singles on a sticky and turning track, bringing up a fifty-run stand off 66 balls.

When Litton opted to go with Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar in the middle overs, Young and Nicholls looked to up the tempo.

Young clipped Soumya through midwicket for a boundary before stepping out and hitting Mahmudullah over long-off for the only six of the innings on his way to his fourth ODI fifty. But Mustafizur returned in the 28th over and gave Bangladesh the breakthrough, trapping Nicholls lbw as he missed his flick. Nicholls fell six runs short of a half-century, with his wicket also ending a 97-run stand off 117 deliveries.

Nasum, who had bowled brilliantly for his six overs without reward till then, finally got the wicket of Young. Seeing him come forward, he drew his length back and got the ball to spin away sharply. Young was all at sea, and Nurul did the rest.

One ball later, Nasum had his second as Rachin Ravindra missed a sweep and was struck plumb in front. It was not given out at the first go, but the review confirmed that Bangladesh had their fifth.

But it started to rain again in the 34th over. What seemed like a short burst at first turned into torrential rain mixed with lightning, leading to the game being called off.

Source: ESPNcricinfo