Bangladesh coast to historic 9-wicket victory over New Zealand

Bangladesh's pace attack shredded New Zealand's batting on a green Napier pitch to record a historic nine-wicket win in the third and final One-Day International (ODI) on Saturday (December 23).

Having been well beaten in the first two matches to cede the series, Bangladesh produced a remarkable form reversal at McLean Park to dismiss the hosts for just 98 in 34.1 overs. The run-chase was a procession, with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto scoring an unbeaten half-century as they coasted to 99 for 1 in 15.1 overs.

It was Bangladesh's first ODI win over the Blackcaps on New Zealand soil, where they had lost the 18 previous fixtures since their first attempt in 1990. Shanto said victory would be a source of pride and was just a reward for the improvements he believes his eighth-ranked team are making.

"Really proud of the boys playing in this match," he said.

"Before we started this series we really believed that we could win the series. The last couple of matches we played well but we couldn't finish. Today, the boys played some good cricket, and we got the result."

Shanto's contribution began with him winning the toss and inserting the Blackcaps on a lush, bouncy surface, which also offered sideways movement -- and his seamers responded. Three of them picked up three wickets as New Zealand were skittled for their lowest total in 45 ODIs between the teams.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib (3 for 14) and Soumya Sarkar (3 for18) both bagged career-best figures, while Shoriful Islam's 3 for 22 included the scalp of top-scoring Will Young, caught in the gully for 26.

Sakib said his methods were simple. "I tried to bowl wicket to wicket, and I tried to bowl line and length. The wicket did the rest of the work. It really helped me."

Young has been in superb touch in the series, scoring 105 and 89 in the wins in Dunedin and Nelson, respectively.

Captain Tom Latham (21) put on 36 with Young for the third wicket but his dismissal -- clean bowled by Islam -- sparked a collapse which saw the last eight wickets fall for 40 runs, many of them to wayward shots. 

There was an early blemish in the run chase when opening batter Sarkar -- who scored 169 in a losing cause in Napier on Wednesday -- was forced to retire hurt for four because of an eye problem.

Loose New Zealand bowling meant there were few problems from that point, with Shanto (51*) putting on 69 with opener Anamul Haque, who was the only batsman dismissed when edging paceman William O'Rourke on 37.

O'Rourke had earlier been struck for four successive boundaries by the free-hitting Shanto in the 11th over of the innings. New Zealand had rested a number of senior players for the series and Latham said some of his newer squad members will have learned a lot.

"Obviously it was a very below-par performance," he said.

"Bangladesh found a way to bowl on that surface and managed to get plenty out of it. We weren't able to build any sort of pressure and put it back on them, so it's pretty disappointing."

The teams will prepare for a three-match T20 International (T20I) series, starting in Napier on Wednesday (December 26).

Brief scores:

New Zealand 98 in 31.4 overs (Will Young 26, Tom Latham 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 3 for 14) lost to Bangladesh 99 for 1 in 15.1 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 51*, Anamul Haque 37; William O'Rourke 1 for 33) by 9 wickets

Player of the match: Tanzim Hasan Sakib 

Player of the series: Will Young