Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell put on a concert at the Basin Reserve to bring New Zealand to a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the third and final ODI.
Bangladesh, defeated 164 runs after New Zealand posted 318/6 in total, had a good start to the game after losing the throw.
Laid down on 14 by Mushfiqur Rahim, New Zealand opener Henry Nicholls fell for 18 to Taskin Ahmed (1/52) in eighth place. He was soon back in the pavilion with opening partner Martin Guptill, who died for 26 to Rubel Hossain (3/70) in the next step.
Hossain struck again in 11th place, taking Ross Taylor’s outer edge for seven, reducing New Zealand to 57/3. Like Nicholls, Taylor was guilty of not making the most of a second life. Just two balls earlier he had been let down by Mustafizur Rahman at midwicket.
In the company of captain Tom Latham, Conway put the pressure back on the touring team. He was hit on the outside edge twice as a youngster and topped four before he reached 10, but Conway looked more and more in the middle.
Along with Latham, he put up 63 runs for New Zealand’s fourth wicket, hitting three consecutive innings off Mustafizur (1/87) at one point – one admitting he was a margin through the third. Just as the Black Caps looked ready to launch, Latham fell for 18 to Soumya Sarkar (1/37), slipping a shot to a spot where Mehidy Hasan Miraz grabbed a brilliant high dive on the left. aige.
Unfortunately for Bangladesh, the implementation did little to slow down New Zealand.
Conway ran up to his half-century in just 52 deliveries when Daryl Mitchell got his eye in front before he articulated his intentions with six over midwicket off Hasan Miraz’s bowling (0/23).
The pair took a 159-run stand, with Mitchell reaching fifty for the first time in ODI cricket with a high edge above the keeper’s head for four. He had given him 63 balls to get there but would finish his engines with a strike rate better than a ball run.
Conway ran through the 80s and 90s, hitting back limits off Mahedi Hasan (0/46) before lifting his ton by beating Taskin through a point for his first ODI century in just the third game. aige. He hit four more boundaries before finally falling in the 48th over for 126 off 110 deliveries, receiving a steady shout-out from the Basin Reserve crowd after being knocked out by Mustafizur.
He gets an average of 75 in cricket ODI to go alongside a T20I average of 52.28.
Rubel would follow Conway’s Muswayizur wicket by removing Jimmy Neesham (4) in the 49th past but these two breakups were rare moments of happiness for Bangladesh at the time of death.
Descended at 63 by Mahmadullah in the 45th over, Mitchell entered the 49th at 71. By the end of the 50th, he was marking his first ODI era.
The collector picked up 12 runs in the half-hour over, pulling Rubel over a deep square foot to open a hundred-year-old capacity.
When he started on the 5th over with three consecutive innings, the last of which was without a ball, the century went from impossible to possible. He beat the home ball to move the two toughest to 97 before finding himself on strike at 98 with two balls to go. Against all odds, Mitchell Santner managed to pick up three from the last ball to allow his batting partner to lift his ton off the final delivery.
Mitchell looked dead and buried running the second run after Mustafizur played straight to deep midwicket. Luckily for the right-handed fan, Mushfiqur dropped the ball on arrival, giving the Kiwi plenty of time to get home to creep into the dressing room. His unconscious ton came from 92 balls, and was punctuated by nine four-foot and two-six.
In response, Bangladesh’s run of 319 was almost over within the first seven pitches while Matt Henry (4/27) ran a touchdown run.
The sailor had caught Tamim Iqbal behind him for one in the third, before kicking out Sarkar for the same score in the fifth. Sarkar fell to a simple catch at a good foot from Trent Boult but it took something much more special to remove Liton Das (21).
Das counted a draw against Henry down to the third where Boult exploded hard on his left before diving full length to capture it with centimeters to release it with one hand to leave Bangladesh the limpet at 26 / 3 in seventh place.
The Tigers were looking to rebuild from there, but the more they dug in the leg the more necessary the rate of running climbed. Finally, the pressure told how Mohammad Mithun fell for six from 39 balls to Kyle Jamieson (1/30).
A three-part strike from Neesham reduced the visitors to 82/7 and from there it was a simple matter of clearing the tail and bringing in Mahmadullah.
Mahmadullah played a 76 * fight but wickets kept falling from the other end as Neesham, who finished with a brilliant 5/27, lifted Rahman ‘s last wicket to take on Bangladesh for 154 in the 43rd over.
Winning a 3-0 series was the perfect start for New Zealand in the ICC World Cup Super League campaign.
The two sides will meet next Sunday for the first of three T20Is.