ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets
With the dismissal of New Zealand’s Ross Taylor, the match seemed to have evened up and poised on the line waiting to be dragged till the last minute for an enthralling finish.
It was the 131-run stand between centurion Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor that did the major damage for Bangladesh in the chase of 288 placed by the Tigers at Hamilton.
Earlier, riding on the consecutive century of Mahmudullah Riyadh in the World Cup, Bangladesh posted a challenging 288 against hosts and heavyweight contender New Zealand.
For Mahmudullah and Bangladesh, the promotion up the batting order seems to have worked and he was able to make a steady platform to build against a competitive side.
After being put to bat first at Hamilton this morning, Trent Boult struck double for the Kiwis getting rid of openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes early amid a slow start.
Soumya Sarkar struck his maiden fifty and steadied the helm with Mahmudullah with a 90-run crucial stand to steer Bangladesh to steady before he gave away his wicket.
Mahmudullah continued strong with falling wickets by his side and made possible the generation of 104 runs from the last 10 overs.
Trent Boult, Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott took two wickets each with Daniel Vettori claiming one for himself.
The Tigers have filled in Shakib Al Hasan to marshal Tigers in this match in place of Mashrafe Mortaza, who has been rested because of a sore throat. New Zealand on the other hand took in fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan in place of Adam Milne.
Both teams are through to the quarterfinals of this tournament with hosts New Zealand sitting right on top of Pool A chart and Bangladesh at number four.
Bangladesh Team
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain
New Zealand Team
Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (C), Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), Daniel Vettori, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
-With The Daily Star input