Dhaka – Sabbir Rahman hit his first international century on Wednesday at Dunedin but Bangladesh failed to avoid a clean sweep against the hosts New Zealand.
The Tigers suffered a big loss of 88 runs after losing first two matches by eight wickets each, and subsequently, they lost the series 3-0.
The New Zealanders posted 330 for six wickets in the first part of the match after losing the toss and sending to bat first. Despite the knock of 102 by Sabbir, Bangladesh capitulated for 242/10 in 47.2 overs and lost the match by 88 runs.
Tim Southee, the right-arm speedster of the hosts, recorded six wickets-haul conceding 65 runs in 9.2 overs and was adjudged man of the match award as well.
Martin Guptill was awarded man of the series for hitting back-to-back centuries in the first two matches of the series.
While replying the challenging target of 331 runs, Bangladesh disappointed to exploit the first ten overs of the innings as well. They found themselves in a dark hole just in two runs losing three wickets.
Tamim Iqbal continued to his unexpected run while adding nothing to the board in the final ODI of the series. Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar also failed when the management asked them to do as much as possible in the last ODI before picking up the squad for the World Cup. However, Liton returned with a single run, and Soumya failed fell for a duck.
While Tamim and Soumya fell in the first over bowled by Southee, Liton was hunted by the same bowler in the third over. The first spell from Southee was irresistible for the Tigers.
Bangladesh lost the fourth wicket when Mushfiqur Rahim (17) skied a delivery of Trent Boult to Colin Munro at third man. Mushfiqur’s misery came to the end by his departure.
The right-handed batsman was looked discomfort at the very start of his innings, and he was looked vulnerable against the pace bowlers.
Like Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah Riyad also looked so helpless in the middle against the quality pace attack of the New Zealanders. He faced 36 deliveries to score 16 runs.
In the fifth wicket stand, Sabbir and Mohammad Saifuddin, who has improved a lot as a batsman, added 101 runs in the board and which was the biggest stand in the Bangladesh innings.
Saifuddin struck 44 off 63 with four fours before being dismissed by Boult. After his dismissal, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was in the wicket just for three balls.
In the eighth wicket stand, Sabbir and Mehidy Hasan Miraz added 67 runs. Mehidy scored 37 off 34 balls. He looked comfortable in the wicket. The right-handed all-rounder struck seven fours in his innings.
Bangladesh’s innings came to the end after five runs since Mehidy’s dismissal. Sabbir was the last batsman to get dismissed by Southee. Sabbir’s innings ended with 12 fours and two sixes to his name.
Earlier, Henry Nicholls (64), Ross Taylor (69) and Tom Latham (59) struck the fifties for the hosts to propel them to a challenging total of 330/6 in 50 overs. Along with them, James Neesham (37 off 24) and Colin de Grandhomme (37 off 15) contributed with the bat.
Mustafizur Rahman bagged two wickets for the Tigers while Mashrafe, Rubel Hossain, Saifuddin and Mehidy took one wicket each.
By losing the series 3-0, Bangladesh suffered a whitewash after 2017 when they were outplayed by the Proteas in a three-match ODI series in their home.
It was Bangladesh’s last ODI before picking up the squad for the World Cup. Who performed poorly in the just-concluded series unlikely to be picked for the World Cup squad.
Bangladesh will lock horn against the Kiwi in a three-match Test series now starting from February 28.UNB
