New Zealand finished on top of Pool A with a clean sheet in group performances in the World Cup after recording a three-wicket win over Bangladesh in a nervous encounter at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Friday.
New Zealand continued with their brilliant form that has kept them on top of the Pool A as they chased down Bangladesh's respectable 288-run target to clinch victory in their final group match with seven balls remaining to be bowled.
Put in to bat first, Bangaldesh recovered from a shaky start to score 288-7 in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to Mahmudullah's brilliant unbeaten ton and Soumya Sarkar's half-century.
Bangaldesh were struggling at 27-2 in the 10th over when Sarkar (51) arrived at the crease and combined with Mahmudullah for a 90-run third-wicket stand to put his team in a comfortable position at 117-3 in the 28th over.
Mahmudullah went on to lift Bangladesh's total as he combined with skipper Shakib Al Hasan (23), wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim (15), Sabbir Rahman (40) and Nasir Hossain (11) to take the team to 288-7, with his unbeaten 128-run knock.
Mahmudullah's hit 12 fours and three sixes during his splendid knock as he remained unbeaten on 128.
Trent Boult, Corey Anderson and Grant Elliott claimed two wickets each to reduce Bangladesh's batting line-up, while veteran all-rounder Daniel Vettori claimed one wicket for New Zealand.
As New Zealand started their chase, they were struggling at 33-2 in the fifth over, having lost both skipper Brendon McCullum and swashbuckling batsman Kane Williamson for their paltry knocks of eight and one respectively.
However, opener Martin Guptill then combined with Ross Taylor to lift New Zealand to 164-3 in the 31st over, thanks to the middle-order batsman's 56-run knock. Both batsmen combined for 131-run third wicket stand to lift New Zealand out of the struggles. uptill went on to hit a brilliant 105 off 100 deliveries, which included 11 fours and two sixes, before he fell prey to Bangaldesh skipper and star all-rounder Al Hasan, who claimed four wickets in the match.
Elliott and Anderson both hit 39-runs each to contribute with the bat in New Zealand's score. The winning runs were hit by Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee as both remained unbeaten on their respective 16 and 12 runs to charge the team to victory.
New Zealand opener Guptill was named the Man of the Match for his 105-run knock. He said that it's been a long time but added that he is glad that he was able to pull through in the end.
New Zealand skipper McCullum said that it was a little bit of untidy in all three facets of the game, adding that credit to Mahmudullah and Bangladesh for their performances and for putting up a big score. But he claimed that in the end New Zealand have to be better than that.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Al Hasan claimed that he thought his side played really well, especially with the way they batted, adding that all the guys, Mahmudullah, Sarkar, did well. He insisted that they can take a lot of positives from this game, and they hope it puts them in good favour for the quarterfinals.
