CWC 2019: BAN vs NZ Review – Kiwis scrape home to victory against spirited Tigers
Bangladesh and New Zealand managed to serve up a feast to a massive crowd which had gathered at the Oval in London, in a nail-biting encounter. The match was topsy-turvy in nature, with no team managing to seize the momentum and take charge of the situation. It was not free-flowing cricket from either side, with the nature of the contest often being scrappy and more of a slugfest. But this accounted for exciting viewing for the spectators, who weren’t sure till the very end as to which team would come out on top.
In the end, the experience for New Zealand prevailed in the most crucial phases of the game, with the Kiwis managing to seal a 2 wicket win with 16 deliveries remaining. Bangladesh will be proud of their effort though, as they look forward to establishing themselves as a genuine threat as the tournament progresses.
Shakib and Mushfiqur again take command
After giving the team a decent start, the Bangladesh openers soon perished to leave the two experienced warriors – Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahman on the crease to build up the innings. They did not let their team down, setting up a solid base for the Tigers. Shakib was the star of the show, scoring a brilliant 64 off 68 deliveries. He was ably supported by Mushfiqur who played a brief knock of 19 but acted as the supporting role in the partnership.
Disaster strikes
Just when it seemed that Bangladesh were setting themselves up for a serious assault at the end of the innings, a couple of error of judgements brought about a serious downfall. The partnership between Shakib and Mushfiqur which was clicking so well was broken after a big miscommunication between the two veterans caused the wicketkeeper-batsman’s run-out, giving New Zealand a way back into the game. Soon after that, Shakib too played a poor shot off Colin de Grandhomme’s bowling to be dismissed caught behind by Tom Latham. The Bangladeshi innings never truly caught momentum afterwards and only a blazing cameo by Saifuddin at the end allowed them to reach a score of 244.
Experience prevails for New Zealand
Just as with the Bangladesh innings, it was left to New Zealand’s two stalwarts, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to steady the ship. The openers had gotten the Black Caps off to a typically high-octane start, with Martin Guptill going berserk with his strokes. But unlike the game against Sri Lanka though, both Guptill and Munro could not convert their starts into big scores and Taylor and Williamson were left to rebuild the innings. They did so with great grit and determination along with the help of some poor work by Bangladesh on the field. Williamson, in particular, was especially lucky as Mushfiqur should have had him run-out but he managed to knock the bails out before collecting the ball in his gloves. Their partnership of 105 was crucial, as the Kiwis almost managed to muck things up at the end.
Bangladesh show great spirit, but come up short
In what was again a great example of how much they have progressed as a unit, Bangladesh never let their heads down and kept probing for a breakthrough. After getting rid of Taylor, who had scored a brilliant 82 off 91 deliveries, they tightened up the screws, which resulted in a couple of quick back-to-back wickets. It was then left to Mitchell Santner to fight it out at the end with the tail and New Zealand somehow managed to scamper home to a 2 wicket win, with Lockie Ferguson especially finding some great luck when facing off against Saifuddin.
