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New Zealand will be taking on Bangladesh in the third and final encounter of the three-match ODI series in Wellington on Friday (March 26).
The hosts already possess an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after dominating the first ODI in Dunedin and also winning the second one quite comfortably in Christchurch.
The second ODI on Tuesday (March 23) saw the visitors put up more fight, but the Black Caps were still too good for them and came out triumphant by five wickets.
The win at the Hagley Oval showed New Zealand’s resolve and depth as even though they were put under pressure earlier in the run-chase, they were able to bounce back and achieve victory.
Batting first, Bangladesh posted a fighting total of 271 for 6 in their allotted 50 overs, with skipper Tamim Iqbal (78) and Mohammad Mithun (73) making stand-out contributions.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (2/51) bagged two scalps, while pace trio of Trent Boult (1/49), Matt Henry (1/48), Kyle Jamieson (1/36) picked up a wicket apiece in their economical spells for New Zealand.
At the start of the run-chase, the Black Caps found themselves struggling at 3/53 after losing their top-order batsmen quite cheaply to Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman (2/62) and Mahedi Hasan (2/42).
Soon, however, the Kiwis were able to recover and gain ascendancy, with stand-in captain Tom Latham (110*) making an unbeaten century and Devon Conway (72) scoring a resilient fifty to help New Zealand win.
It was a victory that allowed New Zealand to retain their undefeated run against Bangladesh at home in white-ball cricket and also earned them crucial 10 points more towards the ICC Super League table.
With the Kiwis flexing their muscles and looking as strong as ever in home conditions, a similar theme is expected to continue in the third one-dayer as well.
Key Players
Tom Latham: The stand-in skipper showed by scoring a hundred in the last match why New Zealand trust him with captaincy duties when regular skipper Kane Williamson isn’t around. Latham led his team from the front in Christchurch and helped them pull off a difficult run-chase. With the form, he is in, and the ability he possesses, Latham will remain a danger man for Bangladesh. He has now played 101 ODIs for New Zealand with 2,806 runs at an average of 34.22 and strike-rate of 84.01.
Trent Boult: The fast bowler was the hero of the first one-dayer for New Zealand with a brilliant spell of 4/27. Even in the second ODI, the seamer made his presence felt and ended with decent figures of 1/49 following an economical spell. Boult’s ability to move the new-ball in the air and off the deck with a left-arm angle makes him a genuine threat to the opposition. Boult has been one of the premier fast-bowlers in world cricket, with 169 ODI wickets to his name from 92 matches. He averages 24.99 in the format, to go with an economy rate of 5.01.
Tamim Iqbal: The Bangladeshi is one of the strongest pillars of his team with 7,451 runs from 212 matches at an average of 37.06 and strike-rate of 78.42. The Bangladeshi captain was his team’s highest run-getter in the previous one-dayer. He played a fine knock of 78 runs and was dismissed prematurely via a run-out just when he was setting his eyes on a big score. The left-hand batsman must be hurting over the series defeat and will be determined to help his team make amends in the final ODI.
Mushfiqur Rahim: The experienced player hasn’t had the best series so far. Bangladesh’s middle-order stalwart has had scores of 23 and 34 to his name but hasn’t been able to convert those starts and go on to produce game-defining centuries. Like Tamim, Mushfiqur too will be in pain over his team’s successive defeats and will look to finally produce a performance befitting of his stature in the team and the world game. Rahim has now played 223 matches for Bangladesh with 6,323 runs at an average of 36.54 and strike-rate of 78.90.
Prediction
The defeat on Tuesday was Bangladesh’s 19th straight limited-overs loss against New Zealand in New Zealand. The Asian rivals have now suffered 15 consecutive ODI drubbings at the hands of the Black Caps in their den.
It’s a streak that will take some effort to end when the two teams face each other again in Wellington on Friday (March 26).
Bangladesh’s long-standing issues when playing away from home have been the lack of depth in the batting department, especially in the death-overs, and the inability of their pacers and spinners alike to pick regular wickets on flat pitches.
New Zealand, being a mighty juggernaut across all departments of the game, have accentuated those problems for the visitors and look set to finish with a 3-0 series whitewash.
