Led by calculative fifties from Daryl Mitchell (89*) and Kane Williamson (78*), New Zealand registered a comfortable eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in Chennai on Friday (October 13). The result made it three wins on the bounce for the Black Caps who now sit pretty on top of the points table with a healthy net run rate to boot.
Chasing a clearly under-par target of 246, New Zealand did lose Rachin Ravindra early as Bangladesh’s new-ball pairing of Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam started on a disciplined note. The ball did move around a bit under lights and that made batting a touch tougher against the new ball. However, the experienced pair of Devon Conway and Kane Williamson showed their class in negotiating the tough period with ease. Once the conditions eased out, both batters started to score at a brisker pace.
Conway looked set for another big score but a moment of misjudgement in the reverse sweep saw him fall to Shakib Al Hasan. By then, the 96-run stand had put New Zealand well on course in the chase. Bangladesh would have hoped to exploit that breakthrough to make further inroads but Daryl Mitchell came in with other ideas. Like he so often has in recent times, Mitchell started with high intent from the get-go, slicing his first ball over the leaping long-off fielder for six. It set the tone for his innings that was filled with aggression, both in strokeplay as well as running between the wickets.
Mitchell’s antics allowed Williamson to bat at his own pace although the New Zealand skipper did have his own share of moments, like the step out chip over wide long-on against Shakib for six. Williamson looked close to his best in his batting but there were moments of discomfort in his running, not surprising given that he has just returned from a knee injury. The odd hobble was visible and it got worse towards the end of the innings, forcing him to retire hurt. Glenn Phillips joined Mitchell and the pair ensured that the final formalities were completed quickly to boost the already healthy net run rate.
Bangladesh were at least 30-40 runs short on this surface and they have only themselves to blame. On an unusually good batting pitch at Chepauk, they had the opportunity to post a healthy score but were undone by the pace and bounce from New Zealand’s speedsters. Lockie Ferguson in particular proved to be unplayable as he constantly had the Bangladesh batters hopping around the crease against the short ball. Mehidy Hasan and Shakib were casualties of the short ball ploy while the same tactic was indirectly responsible for Tanzim Hasan’s dismissal as well.
Mushfiqur Rahim’s half-century and his 96-run stand with Shakib was the only period in the game when Bangladesh looked to have a semblance of control over proceedings. However, an injury while running meant that Shakib was restricted in his movements and eventually had to hit his way out of trouble. It proved to be fatal for Bangladesh as the partnership was broken at an untimely period in the innings. Losing wickets in clumps was another pattern that was on view through the Bangladesh innings. Initially, 40/1 became 56/4 and later on, they slipped from 152/4 to 180/7 to hand the initiative to the Kiwis.
It took a handy innings from Mahmudullah at the back end to give Bangladesh some sort of respectability to the innings. New Zealand on their part were nearly flawless with the ball and in the field. They understood well in advance that this wasn’t the typical Chepauk surface and thereby resisted the temptation to play the extra spinner in Ish Sodhi. The track had enough pace and carry through for the quicks, and the Black Caps’ seamers exploited it fully with clear cut plans to derail Bangladesh’s batters who didn’t help their cause either. Barring Mushfiqur (who was unfortunate to get out to a ball that rolled through after pitching), most batters were guilty of gifting their wickets.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 245/9 in 50 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 66, Mahmudullah 41*; Lockie Ferguson 3-49, Trent Boult 2-45) lost to New Zealand 248/2 in 42.5 overs (Daryl Mitchell 89*, Kane Williamson 78*; Mustafizur Rahman 1-36) by eight wickets
