Boxing Day is an iconic occasion and New Zealand couldn’t asked for anything better as they defeated Bangladesh in emphatic style in the first One Day International (ODI) at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Monday (December 26). Opting to bat first on an overcast morning, New Zealand rode on a superlative ton from Tom Latham and a brilliant 87 from Colin Munro to post a mammoth total of 341. The result was pretty much evident at the innings break but one expected the tourists to put up a better fight than what they did eventually, succumbing to a 77-run loss.
Chasing 342, Bangladesh hinged their hopes on the opening combination of Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal, but they didn’t last together at the crease for too long. While Tamim got off the mark with a boundary in the first over, Kayes hit a six and a four to get going. The merry didn’t last long as Southee bounced Kayes (16) out as the southpaw top-edged it to the keeper in the eighth over. Replays confirmed that there was a fair edge on the ball as it went past the attempted pull shot.
While Tamim sought support from the other end, he couldn’t have been let down further as Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah fell to poor shots in the same over to leave Bangladesh in tatters, with James Neesham picking up both those wickets. Sarkar (1) seemingly in a hurry, didn’t get his eye in against the new bowler and in his attempt to go over covers, miscued it to mid off. Mahmudullah chased down a wild, wide ball to edge it to the keeper, getting dismissed for a duck.
The experienced pair of Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan got together in the 12th over and both rotated the strike wisely, without doing anything outlandish. Just when it seemed that the duo could stitch together a solid partnership, Neesham picked up his third wicket to remove Tamim, who played the upper cut to deep third-man, gift-wrapping his wicket away.
The new man in, Mushfiqur Rahim joined Shakib (59), but was slow to get off the blocks. The left-handed all-rounder though, kept collecting the regular boundaries and didn’t allow the pressure to show in his batting. After he reached his fifty, he pulled Ferguson for a six over widish long-on. But the next delivery, he was done in by the extra pace and bounce as he top-edged it to the fielder at deep mid-wicket.
One of Bangladesh’s best batsman this year, Sabbir Rahman (9) walked in to bat at the fall of Shakib’s wicket but the equation had gotten very taxing by then. In a bid to keep up with the asking rate, Rahman played a fancy ramp shot, only to find the fielder at third-man to depart in the 31st over.
Rahim, who was joined by Mosaddek Hossain, threw the kitchen’s sink at a few deliveries and gunned down a few quick runs, before Rahim pulled his hamstring to retire hurt in the 39th over, with 123 runs needed to win in just over 10 overs. Mosaddek got to his fifty but the slide had started, as Bangladesh lost the last few wickets in a jiffy to go down crashing, and were bowled out for 264.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand batted first on a wicket that was good for batting. The top order batsmen got off to starts but failed to capitalise on it, till the fifth wicket pair of Latham and Munro ensured the hosts finished with a sizeable total.
Mustafizur Rahman was returning to mainstream cricket after a lengthy lay off and all eyes were on him as he shared the attack with Mashrafe Mortaza. Martin Guptill’s six in the third over sent the alarm bells ringing on a wicket that wasn’t doing much, despite the cloudy conditions overhead. Just when the in-form right-handed opener was getting into the groove, a patented Mustafizur slower ball got the better of Guptill (15) in the sixth over.
Kane Williamson, who has had poor returns by his standards thus far in 2016, started off positively by finding the boundaries quite often. With back-to-back fours in Soumya Sarkar’s over, he also became the quickest New Zealand batsman to get to 4000 ODI runs. While the skipper went about his batting seamlessly, Taskin Ahmed came back for his second spell and struck right away, sending back the skipper for a well-made 31.
Latham kept rotating the strike without falling for the temptation of the big shots, but didn’t enjoy the comeback man, Neil Broom’s company for too long, neither did James Neesham last long. Colin Munro arrived at the crease in the 29th over and was confident to go for a big six in the next over itself. As Bangladesh juggled between different bowling options, Latham kept finding the boundary, with Munro happy to play second fiddle.
The opener got to his hundred in style, by timing a pull shot to perfection. Munro wasn’t far behind, as two overs later in the 42nd over, he too hit a six to get to his fifty. Both put together 76 runs between overs 40 and 46, helping the hosts cross the 300-run mark. By the time, the two batsmen departed, they had put together 158 runs for the fifth wicket and had comfortably established New Zealand’s dominant position in the fixture.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 341/7 in 50 overs (Tom Latham 137, Colin Munro 87; Shakib Al Hasan 3-69) beat
Bangladesh (Shakib Al Hasan 59, Mosaddek Hossain 50; James Neesham 3-36, Lockie Ferguson 3-54) by 77 runs.
 at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Monday (December 26). Opting to bat first on an overcast morning, New Zealand rode on a superlative ton from Tom Latham and a brilliant 87 from Colin Munro to post a mammoth total of 341. The result was pretty much evident at the innings break but one expected the tourists to put up a better fight than what they did eventually, succumbing to a 77-run loss.){kind=link}