Sakib al Hasan again proved to be the nemesis of New Zealand as the Bangladesh skipper produced yet another brilliant all-round performance to lead the hosts to a historic series win with a nine-run victory in the fourth one-day international on Thursday.
Sakib smashed 106 off 113 balls under pressure to help Bangladesh post a competitive 241 runs before his 3-54 played a big part for them to restrict New Zealand to 232 with three balls to play.
Bangladesh now lead the five-match series 3-0 and can realistically hope for a clean sweep victory something which was never even in their wildest dream before the series started.
Unheralded Kane Williamson threatened to ruin the party with a century, but Bangladesh managed to hold their nerve in the crucial final over to dismiss him for 108 runs and secure the win.
The local crowd erupted in joy when Roqibul Hassan took a catch at square leg off paceman Shafiul Islam in the third ball of the over to end the innings of Williamson, who defied a serious cramp to take his side to the brink of win.
Williamson batted with the help of a runner since he reached 71 and looked like becoming an unlikely hero for New Zealand reaching his maiden one-day century in just his fifth match.
Williamson, who scored only 13 runs in his previous four matches, added 53 runs with Nathan McCullum for the eighth wicket raising the prospect of a win that eluded New Zealand so far on the tour.
McCullum was run out a by a brilliant direct throw from substitute fielder Naeem Islam in the penultimate over, bowled by Sakib, as the momentum swung to Bangladesh’s way with Darrel Tuffey out for a duck in the next ball.
New Zealand began the final over needing 16 runs, but Williamson brought the equation down to 10 taking six runs in the first two balls before Shafiul struck back.
Apart from under-strength West Indies and lowly Zimbabwe, Bangladesh have never won a series against any Test-playing nation. A win in Sunday’s final match will take them ahead of West Indies in the ICC rankings, which gave their success an added significance.
Bangladesh were sniffing a win when the spinners caught New Zealand in the web again to reduce them to 80-5 before Williamson and Grant Elliot repaired their innings with a sixth- wicket stand of 70 runs.
Sakib ended the resistance of Elliot on 22 with Abdur Razzak taking a brilliant catch running several yards backwards, which reminded the commentators of a famous catch by Kapil Dev in the 1983 World Cup final.
McCullum joined Williamson to take the leading role before that penultimate over from Sakib appeared decisive.
Sakib, however, played a more vital role with the bat and that too at a time when Bangladesh were really struggling. New Zealand, coming into the game with four changes, made an early inroad to reduce the hosts to 3-44.
Shahriar Nafees was out for a duck in the first ball he faced and one-down Junaed Siddique paid the price for his unnecessary aggression giving Aaron Redmond a catch at midwicket off Kyle Mills for 17.
Roqibul Hassan was out for six off a delivery from debutant Hamish Bennett, bringing in Sakib to the crease. Three half-century partnerships helped Sakib rebuild the innings and in the process get his fifth ODI century, a feat no other batsman has achieved previously.
His 53-run stand with Imrul Kayes (37) for the fourth wicket first steadied the innings and a 51-run and a 68-run stand with Mushfiqur Rahim (13) and Mahmudullah (37) for the next two wickets gave them a clear edge on a slow wicket.
Sakib fell in the 43rd over giving a return catch to Vettori shortly after he had to run all the way to boundary rope to stop a spectator walking behind the sight screen and Bangladesh lost their way immediately.
Batting powerplay yet again produced little dividend as they were all out with 11 balls still to play. Bennett finished 3-44, while skipper Vettori, Daryl Tuffey and Mills each took two wickets.
