New Zealand conquer Bangladesh fortress after 15 years

After taking a 1-0 lead by winning the second ODI, New Zealand locked horns with Bangladesh in the third ODI of the three-match series on Tuesday, September 26 at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was captaining Bangladesh in Shakib al Hasan’s absence won the toss and elected to bat first.

However, he was left regretting his decision a few minutes later as openers Tanzid Hasan (5 off 5) and Zakir Hasan (1 off 5) were dismissed after putting just eight runs on the board. Adam Milne destroyed Tanzid Hasan’s stumps and later got rid of Towhid Hridoy (18 off 17) to leave Bangladesh reeling at 35/3 after 5.3 overs.

Things got worse for Bangladesh as veteran Mushfiqur Rahim was also dismissed in the 16th over as he failed to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps through his football skills. However, captain Shanto held the innings together with his knock of 76 (84) with the help of 10 boundaries. The Bangladesh skipper failed to get any support from other players as their team got bundled out for 171.

Adam Milne was the destroyer-in-chief as he picked up 4/34 in 6.3 overs while Trent Boult (2/33, 6 overs) and Cole McConchie (2/18, 5 overs) picked up two wickets each.

Chasing a modest target, New Zealand got their innings off to a good start with openers Finn Allen (28 off 26) and Will Young adding 49 runs for the first wicket. However, their innings was halted by back-to-back dismissals of Allen and Dean Foxcroft (0 off 1) by Shoriful Islam.

Will Young and Henry Nicholls guide New Zealand home

After the two quick blows, Young (70 off 80) and Henry Nicholls stabilised the innings with their 81-run stand off 118 balls. Young lost his wicket in the 30th over losing his stumps against Nasum Ahmed. At the other end, Nicholls continued his innings and scored a sublime fifty (50* off 86) guiding his team to a seven-wicket win in 34.5 overs. As a result, New Zealand won the three-match series 2-0 after the first game got washed out. Notably, it was their first ODI series win in Bangladesh after 15 years.