New Zealand beats Bangladesh in a tense finish

Photo: PakistanTribe.com

New Zealand scripted a famous victory over Bangladesh as they won their final match in the group stage by 3 wickets. Bangladesh came close to pull off yet another big win, after the crucial win over England, but could not get past the finishing line.

Bangladesh lost the toss and Brendon McCullum put them into bat. They did not have the best of the starts as they lost early wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes very early. Mahmudullah Riad and Soumya Sarkar steadied the innings for Bangladesh with a 90-run partnership. Sarkar got out after completing his half century but Mahmudullah carried on till the end and ended up scoring his second century in this world cup. He remained unbeaten on 128 and helped Bangladesh post a formidable total of 288/7 in 50 overs. Shabbir Rahman’s cameo of 40 off 23 also played an instrumental role in posting such a big total. The Kiwi bowlers had an off day in the middle except those first few overs where they had the Bangladeshi bowlers in trouble.

While chasing Bangladesh put the Black Caps under pressure early in the innings as they picked up the wickets of Brendon McCullum (8) and Kane Williamson (1). Martin Guptill scored a hundred before getting out on 105 and Ross Taylor scored 56 off 97 balls to take New Zealand close to the target set by their opponents. Grant Elliott (39) and Corey Anderson (39) took the Kiwis further close. But it needed the heroics of Tim Southee and Daniel Vettori with the bat to maintain their unbeaten record in this world cup. It was Southee’s six and a boundary off Shakib al Hasan that settled the job for the Kiwis with 7 balls remaining to be spared.

This win further consolidated New Zealand’s position at the top of the table while this defeat prevented Bangladesh from getting up from the fourth position. Bangladesh will next be playing against India in the quarterfinal of this world cup. New Zealand will have to wait to know who their opponents will be in quarterfinal as qualification from the Pool B is yet to be completed.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.