Cricket

Four for Milne as Bangladesh are bowled out for 171

Innings, 34.3 overs Bangladesh 171 (Shanto 76, Milne 4-34, McConchie 2-18, Boult 2-33) vs New Zealand

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s counter-attacking half-century on ODI captaincy debut was the lone bright spot for Bangladesh as New Zealand skittled the hosts for just 171 in 34.3 overs in the third and final ODI. Shanto, the No. 3 batter, crunched ten fours in his 84-ball 76, but with the second-highest contribution being Mahmudullah’s 21, Bangladesh ended with an underwhelming total.
It was Adam Milne, replacing Kyle Jamieson in the XI, who was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers. He sent in a searing yorker in his first over, the second of the innings, to dismiss debutant Zakir Hasan, and then, in the sixth over, had Towhid Hridoy slicing to cover. He then returned in his next spell to end Shanto’s 49-run stand with Mahmudullah by getting the latter caught behind, and finished with 4 for 34 when he took the last wicket as well.

Earlier, Bangladesh had opted to bat upon winning the toss, but were on the back foot after being reduced to 35 for 3 inside six overs. Sandwiched between Milne’s first two wickets was Trent Boult’s dismissal of opener Tanzid Hasan, caught at first slip, and at that stage, Bangladesh were desperate for some stability. Shanto provided part of it by holding one end up, but wickets tumbled at the other.

And once Shanto was the seventh man out with the team score at 168, the end came quickly. Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for only three runs, leaving New Zealand needing 172 to seal the series 2-0.

Ish Sodhi, who took 6 for 39 in the second ODI, was expected to pose the biggest danger for Bangladesh, but incidentally ended up as the most expensive bowler, conceding 40 runs in six wicketless overs. Batting allrounder Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie, though, stepped up on Sodhi’s off-colour day to prise out crucial wickets after Mahmudullah’s dismissal in the 25th over. Together, the pair returned figures of 10-1-38-3. Boult finished with a two-for, while Ferguson finished with one scalp after he undid Mushfiqur Rahim’s 25-ball vigil with a short ball that was knocked back onto the stumps.

Shanto, the stand-in captain playing in place of the original stand-in captain Litton Das, walked in at 6 for 1, and hit the three New Zealand quicks for five fours inside the ten overs, including a pull off a well-aimed bouncer from Ferguson that helped him race to 31 in 26 balls.

He was not afraid to take Sodhi on early, and even successfully played the reverse sweep, and by the time the 20th over ended had already reached his fifth ODI half-century. But after seeing off the difficult periods, it was eventually part-time spin that dismissed Shanto. After 134 minutes of shepherding Bangladesh’s innings, he tried to play a reverse-sweep off McConchie and ended up lbw.

That was just the opening New Zealand needed, and over the next three overs cleaned up the tail. McConchie had Nasum stumped, Ravindra had Hasan Mahmud lbw, and Milne picked up his fourth when Shoriful Islam, the last man to fall, sliced a catch to cover in the 35th over.