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Boult too fierce to handle for Tigers


Published : 20 Mar 2021 07:41 PM

Bangladesh made a torrid start to their tour of New Zealand on Saturday as their batsmen put up a poor performance that saw the side post just 131 on the board. New Zealand chased down the target with ease in just 21.2 overs to pick up a comprehensive eight-wicket win as Bangladesh's winless streak in this part of the world extended to 14 in ODIs. 

Skipper Tamim Iqbal made a great start after Tom Latham opted to bowl. Despite upper-cutting Trent Boult for a six in the very first over, Tamim was eventually outsmarted by the left-arm pacer who trapped the Bangladesh captain plumb in front. Boult also immediately removed Soumya Sarkar with a short delivery, picking up two wickets in the same over - a feat he repeated later again to close out the innings. 

The visitors never recovered from the early setback as James Neesham then struck in his first over. Liton Das was early in his attempt to flick a cross-seamed delivery and the leading edge was pouched easily at mid-on by Boult. Mushfiqur Rahim tried to battle it out and was batting on 10 off 32 at one stage but the wicketkeeper-batsman found the fielder at wide gully to add to Bangladesh’s woes. Wickets continued to tumble as the visitors found themselves reeling at 78 for 6 at one stage. 

The likes of Mahedi Hasan and Taskin Ahmed hung in for a while alongside Mahmudullah to get Bangladesh past 120 but once the senior batsman was dismissed, the innings got over swiftly. Martin Guptill then walked out to the middle with the sole purpose of polishing off the chase as quickly as possible. He signalled his intentions when he hit a four and a six in the first over and then followed it up with a couple of more boundaries in the second. 

Guptill then took on Hasan Mahmud to fetch consecutive sixes as New Zealand raced to 45/0 in just 4 overs. Guptill's thrilling cameo then came to an end when he edged one behind off Taskin in the sixth over of the chase, much to Bangladesh's relief. 

But with New Zealand already having 54 on the board, the result was a foregone conclusion. Devon Conway was subdued in his maiden ODI innings whereas Henry Nicholls kept the scorecard ticking. Once Conway was dismissed right at the end, another debutant Will Young finished proceedings with a couple of boundaries to put Bangladesh out of their misery.