Latham leads from the front as Kiwis beat Bangladesh
dublin — Inspired by a fine halfcentury from stand-in captain Tom Latham, New Zealand beat Bangladesh by four wickets in the Ireland Tri-Nation Series on Wednesday.
Latham made 54 while all-rounder James Neesham hit 52 as New Zealand chased down 258 in 47.3 overs.
Earlier, New Zealand restricted Bangladesh to 257 for nine despite three batsmen making half centuries.
Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmuduallah all reached 50 but none could go on and Sarkar ended up as the top scorer with 61.
Hamish Bennett, the one change in the Black Caps line-up which beat Ireland in their first match on Sunday — he replaced Scott Kuggeleijn — was rewarded for an economical 10-over spell with two wickets in the last over to finish with three for 30.
Bangladesh also had to had make one change to their first lineup with captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who had been suspended for the Ireland game last Friday, returning in place of Taskin Ahmed.
The Tigers enjoyed a bright start with Tamim Iqbal and Sarkar putting on 72 for the first wicket but they had lost two wickets by the first drinks break with Tamin caught on the cover boundary for 23 and eight balls later, Sabbir Rahman was bowled by Mitchell Santner, the Black Caps five-wicket man of the match on Sunday.
Santner was even more economical on Wednesday, conceding just 37 runs, but that was his only wicket and it was Ish Sodhi who upstaged him with two for 40, ending Sarkar’s 67-ball innings which included just five boundaries.
Despite the short boundaries at the compact Clontarf ground, Bangladesh struggled to find them with Mahmudullah the most successful, hitting six in his 51 while Mushfiqur hit the only six of the innings in his 55. —