Taking part in his first aggressive worldwide recreation in almost seven months after knee surgical procedure, Kane Williamson did what he does finest – shepherd a difficult chase with a masterly knock (78 retired damage, 108b, 8×4, 1×6) to information New Zealand to an eight-wicket win over Bangladesh right here on the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
In pursuit of 246, the Black Caps misplaced opener Rachin Ravindra early earlier than Williamson and Devon Conway weathered a wonderful spell of tempo bowling by the 2 left-arm seamers Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam.
HIGHLIGHTS | New Zealand vs Bangladesh ICC World Cup
Williamson was cautious firstly earlier than he wielded his trademark strokes on an uncharacteristic Chepauk pitch that was extra pleasant to the seamers with bounce and tempo. He began with a lower, over level earlier than a backfoot punch via covers off Shoriful to get going after being two off 19 balls at one level.
From there on, it was a typical Williamson knock, with deft late cuts, paddles over wonderful leg and use of toes to loft Shakib Al Hasan over the leg-side.
On the different finish, Conway did his bit with a cameo of 45 earlier than he was trapped leg-before attempting to reverse-sweep Shakib.
Nonetheless, Williamson retired damage when he copped a blow on his left thumb from a throw on the bowler’s finish whereas finishing a single. He hung round for an over earlier than strolling off in ache, however not earlier than he had put his facet firmly within the driver’s seat with a 108-run stand (109 balls) with Daryl Mitchell for the third wicket.
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Mitchell rode his luck initially – his mistimed photographs both falling brief or fielders unable to catch it on the ropes and keep inside – to complete with an unbeaten 89 (67b 6×4, 4×6) to seal New Zealand’s third consecutive win of the World Cup.
Earlier, electing to discipline first, New Zealand restricted Bangladesh to 245 for 9, due to Lockie Ferguson’s (three for 49) fiery spell of quick bowling wherein he used the short-pitched stuff to good impact.
The Tigers began on the incorrect foot when Litton Das charged all the way down to Trent Boult and flicked the very first ball straight to the throat of Matt Henry at wonderful leg, who took a wonderful catch after initially overrunning it. However Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Tanzid Hasan rapidly received the innings again on observe by going for his or her photographs and located 4 boundaries every.
The Kiwis then received on high of proceedings when Ferguson struck twice. He first had Tanzid, flicking a half-volley to sq. leg earlier than bouncing out Miraz, caught at wonderful leg making an attempt a pull.
Quickly, Bangladesh discovered itself at 56 for 4 when Najmul Hossain Shanto was caught at short-midwicket attempting to work off-spinner Glenn Phillips via the leg-side solely to get a vanguard because the supply stopped a bit after pitching.
Strolling in at six, Mushfiqur bailed his facet out and regarded in full management, taking up the bowlers proper from the second he walked in.
He began by slog-sweeping and reverse-sweeping Glenn Phillips for a six and boundary one over. Even when challenged by the barrage of short-pitch stuff from the quicks, the previous Bangladesh skipper used the late cuts via slips and upper-cuts over third-man to seek out boundaries simply.
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Mushfiqur and skipper Shakib (40) stitched a 96-run stand for the fifth wicket off 108 balls to get the Asian workforce again on observe.
However Shakib, in a bid to get a transfer on, perished attempting to drag Ferguson one time too many instances. After top-edging the fast for a six over wonderful leg, he tried to repeat the shot off the following ball solely to scoop it to the keeper Tom Latham, who took a superb catch working behind.
Mushfiqur’s innings ended when he was bowled by a Matt Henry off-cutter that saved low. Later, Mahmadullah’s unbeaten 41 helped Bangladesh get to only about par rating, but it surely was not sufficient to keep away from a second straight defeat.