Bangladesh have gone through the three-match ODI series with a 2-0 defeat against New Zealand in the consequence of continuous batting failure.
The host lost their last ODI by seven wickets while defending a meager total of 171 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.
In replying to 172, Finn Allen (28) got going with a hat-trick of boundaries in the very first over. He along with Will Young (70) made a 49-run opening stand before Shoriful Islam sent him back to the pavilion in the tenth over.
Debutant Dean Foxcroft departed for a golden duck in the very next delivery of Shoriful. That got the crowd excited but Will Young and Henry Nicholls (50) forged an 81-run partnership for the third wicket to extinguish any hopes for the home team.
Nasum Ahmed bowled a beautiful delivery to dismiss the set NZ opener Young but it came too late for the hosts. Nicholls, after getting dismissed in the 40s in the first two matches, recorded a half-ton as the visitors overtook the target with 15.1 overs to spare.
Shoriful Islam and Nasum Ahmed were the successful bowlers from Bangladesh as they got two and one wickets respectively.
Earlier on batting first, the hosts were off to a poor start losing three wickets in the six overs at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. The openers Tanzid Hasan Tamim (5) and Zakir Hasan (1) failed to execute their commitments with the bats.
The trend of falling wickets continued throughout the innings as Towhid Hridoy (18), Mushfiqur Rahim (18), and Mahmudullah Riyad (21) departed early on their innings. New Zealand picked up wickets at regular intervals and did not let Bangladesh get away with any substantial partnerships.
Najmul Shanto, who was made the stand-in captain, was the only standout performer with his 76 off 84.
Adam Milne was the pick of the bowlers as he ended up with figures of 4-34 for the visitors from 6.3 overs. Each of Trent Boult and Cole McConchie picked up two wickets.
Since the beginning of the 2023 Asia Cup, Bangladesh played a total of seven innings with batting including this match. They were able to go through full 50 overs in just two matches of them.
In this match, the Bangladeshi batters could not play even 35 overs. The host were bowled out in 42 overs in the second game and suffer a 86-run defeat. First match was washed out due to heavy rainfall in Dhaka.
Bangladesh made four changes to the playing XI from the second game, with Shanto coming in for the first time in the series, alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, Shoriful Islam, and Zakir Hossain, who will make his debut. The ones to miss out on are Liton Das, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, and Mustafizur Rahman.
New Zealand also made two changes as Dean Foxcroft and Adam Milne came in for Chad Bowes and Kyle Jamieson. The visitors have already a 1-0 lead in the series.
Playing XIs
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Zakir Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed.
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Will Young, Dean Foxcroft, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Cole McConchie, Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson (c), Trent Boult.
EM
