NEW ZEALAND scored a narrow victory over Bangladesh in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The Kiwis took the game, played at The Oval in south London, by just two wickets.
Bangladesh set a reasonable score of 244 all out in 49.2 overs. Most batsmen made a reasonable score, with Shakib Al Hasan reaching 64 – but they were held down by the New Zealand bowlers and it wasn’t quite enough.
New Zealand looked a bit nervy to begin with. NZ Captain and opener Kane Williamson should have been out for eight runs – but Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Raham downed the stumps before he had held on to the ball. A relieved Williamson went on to reach 40.
The New Zealand story was then one of ups and downs: up to 160 for 2; down to 191 for 5 – down further to 218 for 7, needing 27 runs to win from just 39 balls. The tension grew as Mohammed Saifuddin bowled Matt Henry, with seven runs still needed. Then Lockie Ferguson and Mitchell Santer got a boundary each, and the game was won.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said, “It was a good wicket. We were 20 or 30 short. The outfield was slow. We got set and then got out too often. We couldn’t make a good partnership in the middle. At the end it was a tight match. To win matches you have to get wickets, they closed it professionally – credit to them.”
Where now? New Zealand has won two group matches and sits at the top of the table. They travel to Taunton on Saturday to take on Afghanistan, who are currently bottom of the table, in tenth place. Bangladesh will face a bigger challenge: playing against four placed England in Cardiff.
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