Sloppy Bangladesh lose to New Zealand after batting, bowling failure

Bangladesh have been handed a four-wicket defeat by New Zealand after a below-par show with both the bat and the ball in the Ireland tri-nation series.

Batting first, Bangladesh set New Zealand a tricky 258-run chase at the Clontarf Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on Wednesday.

In their reply, the Black Caps rode on a gritty partnership between James Neesham and Neil Broom, which was complemented by a half-century by opener Tom Latham, to coast to victory with more than two overs to spare.

Bangladesh batsmen could not utilise a strong base at the top and once again fell like ninepins when the circumstances called for big hitting late in the innings.

With the ball, Shakib Al Hasan (0/50 in 10 overs), Mehedi Hasan Miraz (0/45 in 8 overs) and even Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (1-58 in 6.3 overs) himself were wayward and offered the batsmen room to release pressure.

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe returned to the fold after serving suspension in the previous match, replacing Taskin Ahmed from the opener.

Playing with a second-string team with their top players playing in the IPL, New Zealand chase got off to a high note with Luke Ronchi (27) smashing Mashrafe for a six and a four in the first over.

Mashrafe took himself off the attack after another over but the Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman struck three more boundaries before Mustafizur Rahman took him out with a slower in the seventh over.

Miraz then spilled a tough return catch from George Worker, allowing Latham to score 41 runs with him before a sharp fielding from Sabbir Rahman sent Worker packing for 17.

Leading the team in place of Kane Williamson, Latham (54) kept the scoreboard ticking calmly from one end.

He reached his half-century with a lovely cover drive but Rubel Hossain took him out with a rising length delivery to leave them on 110 for 3.

Ross Taylor (25) and Broom (48) added 37 in the next 10 overs before the former departed, lbw by Mustafizur as Bangladesh appeared to have gained foothold in the game.

But Broom and Neesham (52) slowly rebuilt the chase. After a loud leg-before appeal from Miraz was turned down, the pair pressed on to get the chase back on course.

Having given away 18 runs from his first two overs, Mashrafe then returned to the attack. The skipper was, however, uncharacteristically wayward with his line and length and was clobbered for 30 runs in his three-over spell which turned the tides in New Zealand’s favour.

The Tigers desperately looked for a breakthrough but the duo kept cutting the deficit, pairing up in a decisive 80-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Broom was taken out by Rubel in the 43rd over with New Zealand 31 runs away. Mashrafe then grabbed the wicket of Neesham after the allrounder reached his half-century.

Needing 17 runs to win from the last four overs, Colin Munro smashed two boundaries off Mustafizur to deflate Bangladesh before easing over the finish line with 15 balls to spare.

Mustafizur was once again the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh, returning 2-33. Rubel bowled with impressive pace and took 2-53.

Earlier, Soumya Sarkar (61), Mushfiqur Rahim (55) and Mahmudullah (55) smashed half-centuries to lift the Tigers to the total after being asked to bat.

Pacer Hamish Benett returned 3-31 while seamer Neesham (2-68) and legspinner Ish Sodhi (2-40) grabbed two wickets each for the Black Caps.

Tamim Iqbal (23) and Soumya gave Bangladesh a solid base up front with a 72-run opening stand. But New Zealand bowlers picked up timely wickets on yet another green top to stem the flow of runs in the mid-overs.

Soumya, who struck five boundaries on his way to his fifth ODI half-century, was in good touch in an otherwise sedate start from the openers.

The pair saw Bangladesh through the first 15 overs safely but New Zealand then hit back with two quick wickets, that of Tamim and Sabbir (1), in successive overs.

Mushfiqur’s nimble footwork was the highlight of his 66-ball knock. He clubbed Seth Rance over mid-off for the only six of the innings.

He kept rotating the strike and paced the innings brilliantly during his stay at the crease.

After Soumya departed skying one off Sodhi, Shakib also looked uncomfortable against the Kiwi legbreak bowler and perished scoring just 6.

Mushfiqur was then joined in the middle by Mahmudullah, who appeared more assured in taking on the spinners.

The duo took advantage of some poor fielding square on the offside and raised the scoring rate with six boundaries in their 49-run fifth wicket stand.

Mushfiqur reached his 24th half-century with four boundaries and a six but could not extend his stay into the final overs, falling to a tight length delivery from Neesham before Bangladesh could reach 200.

Mahmudullah, however, received good support from young Mosaddek Hossain (41). A run-a-ball sixth-wicket partnership of 61 between them raised Bangladesh’s hopes of a total around 270.

Initially looking puzzled in the middle, they scored at a brisk rate at the death. But after Mahmudullah’s dismissal, which came through a brilliant catch from Ronchi, the scoring rate took a hit.

Bangladesh ended up losing three wickets in the final over, including that of Mosaddek, Mashrafe (1) and Mehedi (6).

New Zealand (8 points) have now won both their matches in the tri-series while Bangladesh (2 points) have lost their second match after their opener rained out.

Mashrafe and his men will take on the hosts in their next match at Malahide on Friday afternoon (BdST).