New Zealand beat Bangladesh in first ODI
Trent Boult top and tailed the wicket-taking as the visitors’ batting was overwhelmed on a surface offering bounce then Martin Guptill briefly peppered the grass banks as the target was hunted down with more than 28 overs overs to spare.
ESPNcricinfo adds: Only Madmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim passed 20 for Bangladesh as the line-up was challenged by the University Oval surface which was exploited perfectly by New Zealand after they bowled first. In a sign of the hold they had with the ball, there were only eight boundaries (along with three sixes) as they were bundled out with eight overs remaining when Boult claimed the last two wickets in three balls. Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner claimed a tidy brace each.
Guptill picked up his T20 form from the series against Australia, sending seven of his 19 deliveries to the boundary, including four for six, in an opening stand of 54 in 5.3 overs. His fun was ended when he had a huge swing at Taskin Ahmed, who bowled with good pace, and edged behind although Guptill wasn’t sure and used up a review.
With no scoreboard pressure Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway, the latter of three New Zealand debutants, went along at a leisurely pace. Conway departed with a handful of runs needed, picking out deep square leg, but it allowed fellow debutant Will Young a brief stay at the crease and his consecutive boundaries wrapped up victory, leaving Nicholls one short of his fifty.
This was New Zealand’s first ODI since their aborted tour of Australia last March and just their fourth since the 2019 World Cup final. For the first time since 2012 they handed out three new caps in the same game with allrounder Daryl Mitchell joining Conway and Young. Mitchell wasn’t needed with bat or ball and his one chance to get on the scoreboard was spurned when he was distracted by Tom Latham diving across him as Matt Henry found the edge of Liton Das in the sixth over. It was New Zealand’s only error of the innings.
