Bangladesh have lost spectacularly by two wickets to New Zealand in a nervy World Cup game after failing to seize the initiative at crucial moments because of poor batting and fielding.
Bangladesh bowlers made a nail-biting game by taking quick wickets but the Black Caps still had 17 balls left when they overhauled 244 at The Oval in London on Wednesday.
In the chase of a below-par target of 245 for a victory, Ross Taylor, who has scored 12 half-centuries in his last 22 innings in ODIs, held his nerve to continue his rich vein of form. He anchored the innings with an invaluable 91-ball 82.
He left his side needing 54 runs with five wickets and 11.3 overs in hand after sharing a match-winning, 105-run third-wicket partnership with Kane Williamson who scored 40 runs off 72 balls.
The fall of the New Zealand captain triggered a middle-order collapse that saw them lose five wickets for 58 runs. But Mitchell Santner squeezed his side home with an unbeaten 17.
Bangladesh bowlers Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mosaddek Hossain, and Mohammad Saifuddin took two wickets each – all in quick succession.
In his 200th ODI, Shakib Al Hasan snared the wickets of dangerous openers Martin Guptill (25) in the sixth over and Colin Munro (24) in the 10th over to reduce the side to 55-2.
The game-changing moment in the match came in the 12th over when it seemed Bangladesh had run Williamson out. He was stranded in the middle of the pitch trying to take a quick run.
But replays showed that wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim had knocked the bails off as he attempted to gather the ball. All the more agonising for the Tigers was the fact that Tamim Iqbal’s throw at the stumps was going to be a direct hit.
It proved a costly miss as Williamson went on to fashion their 13th ODI century stand with Taylor.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz eventually removed the Kiwi captain and Tom Latham (0) followed in the same over as the match had some late twist.
James Neesham (25) stitched a 29-run partnership with Taylor and 27 with Colin de Grandhomme.
The game took another huge swing with Mosaddek’s double strike as he sent back Taylor in the 39th over and Neesham in the 44th.
Saifuddin added to the tension by having De Grandhomme caught behind and Matt Henry in the 43rd and 47th over respectively
But the bowlers bled boundaries and wide balls while Mitchell Santner remained calm. He drilled the first ball of the 48th over to the cover boundary to hand New Zealand their second win of the tournament.
Sent in to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a sedate start as the openers struggled to get the boundaries early on.
Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had admitted that he would have liked to bowl first despite a strong batting performance in the win against South Africa at the same ground.
The Tigers aimed to build on the positive momentum against the Kiwis, having named an unchanged line-up from their previous match.
But they crumbled in the face of tight bowling and fine fielding by the Kiwis as pacer Matt Henry starred with 4 for 47 including two to polish off the innings in the 50th over.
Against South Africa, Shakib and Mushfiqur took the game away and the duo appeared to be building Bangladesh towards a big target. But the latter ran himself out on 19 looking for a quick single following a terrible mix-up in the 24th over.
Soumya began to hit the ball sweetly but he could not carry on for long as Henry dismissed him for 25, cutting the opening stand short at 45.
Tamim (24) departed soon and there was some sort of a recovery with Mushfiqur and Shakib adding 50 for the third wicket.
Shakib hit his second successive half-century but in trying to push on, he gave his wicket away to De Grandhomme against the run of play for 64 in the 31st over.
The Tigers managed to get small partnerships but none went big as five in the top six wasted their starts.
Mahmudullah and Mosaddek, who contributed heavily to Bangladesh’s highest ODI total of 330 in the last match, failed to take their team out of the woods this time after Henry claimed Mohammad Mithun in the 38th over.
Saifuddin made some lusty hits, including the only six of the innings, in the death overs much to delight of the Bangladesh fans as Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in seven overs.
Bangladesh, who have 2 points to New Zealand’s 4, face hosts England in their next game at Cardiff on June 8.
BRIEF SCORES: Bangladesh 244 in 49.2 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 64, Mohammad Saifuddin 29; Matt Henry 4-47, Trent Boult 2-44) lose to New Zealand 248 for 8 in 47.1 overs (Ross Taylor 82, Kane Williamson 40; Shakib Al Hasan 2-47, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2-47, Mosaddek Hossain 2-33, Mohammad Saifuddin 2-41) by 2 wickets. –bdnews24.com
