Bangladesh starts the 3-match ODI series with a defeat against New Zealand

New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the first ODI match played at McLean Park, Napier and took 1-0 lead of the 3-match ODI series on Wednesday (February 13). The Kiwi opener Martin Guptill played an unbeaten innings of 117 runs, which helped the home team to reach the target with 33 balls remaining at hand. He along with his opening partner Henry Nicholls put on 103 runs on the scoreboard in the first-wicket stand. However, Nicholls was bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz on 53. Skipper Kane Williamson, who scored 11 runs from 22 balls, was trapped leg before by Mahmudullah. Guptill then made a 96-run third-wicket partnership with Ross Taylor who remained not out on 45. Both of them led the team towards victory.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh ODI captain, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, decided to bat first. Because of the failure of most of the top-order batsmen, the touring team could not make a competitive score. Mohammad Mithun and night watchman Mohammad Saifuddin could make some resistance with the bat. The duo made an 84-run partnership in the eighth-wicket stand, which lifted Bangladesh from 131 for 7 in the 29th over to 215 for 8 in the 45th over. Mohammad Mithun scored 62 off 90 balls while Mohammad Saifuddin scored 58-ball 41. Earlier Soumya Sarkar played an aggressive innings of 22-ball 30. Thanks to them, Bangladesh could make a decent total of 232 runs losing all wickets in 48.5 overs.

For New Zealand, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner bagged three wickets each while both Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson took two wickets.

Full Scorecard- http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18805/scorecard/1153844/new-zealand-vs-bangladesh-1st-odi-bangladesh-in-nz-2018-19

The second ODI match between New Zealand and Bangladesh will be played on February 16 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. No doubt, the visiting team will try their best to win the match and keep their hope alive of clinching the title. On the other hand, the host team will leave no stone unturned to win the second ODI match in order to secure their ODI series victory with one match left at hand. Let’s see what happens.

Source- https://en.prothomalo.com/sports/news/191116/Guptill-century-caps-easy-New-Zealand-win