Bangladesh match words with actions against New Zealand

Bangladesh proved on Friday that their claim to be playing without fear in the cricket World Cup after an epic win over England was more than an empty management cliche.

Bangladesh fought through some testing overs from Trent Boult and Tim Southee in conditions which were perfect for the New Zealand fast bowlers.

They then launched a counter-attack led by Mahmudullah, who scored his second consecutive century of the tournament with 128 out of a competitive total of 288 for seven. It was the first time a team had completed their 50 overs against the co-hosts.

During the buildup to the Pool A clash at Seddon Park, Bangladesh had indicated they would use spin early in the innings against the potentially destructive New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.

Captain Shakib Al Hasan took the new ball straight away himself with his slow left-armers and was rewarded when he dismissed McCullum and Kane Williamson in his third over for single figure scores. Al Hasan added the wickets of New Zealand's century maker Martin Guptill and wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi to finish with four for 55 and it was left to Daniel Vettori (16 not out) and Tim Southee (12 not out) to get New Zealand over the line.

"We can take the confidence into the quarter-final," Al Hasan told a news conference. "It was very disappointing to come up short.

"We always knew it would be overcast conditions and the ball would swing a bit and it happened.

"I thought we played well and kept it tight but in the end I think we were 10 runs short."