New Zealand hold nerve to sink Bangladesh in thriller
LONDON (Reuters) - New Zealand held their nerve under the floodlights to beat Bangladesh by two wickets in a dramatic low-scoring Cricket World Cup match at The Oval on Wednesday.
The Black Caps looked to be cruising to a modest target of 245 as Ross Taylor (82) and captain Kane Williamson (40) led them to 160-2, but they lost six wickets in quick succession to give Bangladesh the scent of a famous win.
When Matt Henry was eighth man out, New Zealand still needed seven runs for victory but Mitchell Santner stayed calm to secure their second win of the tournament with 17 balls to spare.
“It’s very nice to get across the line. We still knew that 250 could be quite challenging,” Williamson said.
“It wasn’t our most clinical effort with the bat. There were a few soft dismissals that we’d want to address. But it’s a great experience to have in tournament cricket.”
New Zealand bowled tightly and fielded with high intensity after winning the toss to restrict Bangladesh to 244 all out.
Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar shared an opening partnership of 45 before Sarkar was bowled by Henry for 25 and Tamim, on 24, skied a simple catch to mid-wicket.
Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim added 50 for the third wicket but the stand ended when Mushfiqur was run out for 19 following a mix-up.
Shakib reached his fifty off 54 balls before, on 64, he edged medium-pacer Colin de Grandhomme to wicketkeeper Tom Latham and Mohammad Mithun went for 26.
Needing to accelerate to get close to 300, a par score on the usual batting-friendly Oval wicket, Bangladesh boundaries were in short supply.