Chennai, Oct 13: Kane Williamson marked his return to international cricket with an elegant half-century while Daryl Mitchell blazed away to a 67-ball 89 as New Zealand crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in the ICC World Cup here on Friday.
This was the Kiwis’ third win in as many matches, completing the chase of 246 with plenty to spare.
Playing in his first match of the ongoing showpiece after finally recovering fully from the knee injury he had sustained during the IPL in April and the ensuing surgery, Williamson showed his class with an old-fashioned calculative ODI batting that fetched him 78 runs from 107 balls.
At the other end, Daryl Mitchell looked in a hurry as he smashed fours and sixes at will to seal the issue in his team’s favour with 43 balls left.
Having found two good-looking boundaries at the start of his innings, Williamson decorated his knock with eight fours and a six, while the Mitchell hammered six fours and four sixes during his breezy, unbeaten stay in the middle.
Restricted to 245 for nine after being asked to bat first, Bangladesh bowlers had no answer to the Kiwi response but they did a few things wrong, including their skipper and biggest weapon with the ball Shakib al Hasan completing his quota of overs instead of keeping them for the end overs.
The New Zealand dressing room, however, was not happy to see an exhausted Williamson walking back retired hurt after attempting a flashy drive. This was after he had taken a blow to his left thumb.
New Zealand, by then, had done enough to ensure victory.
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 66 as Bangladesh battled hard in the face of New Zealand’s disciplined bowling effort to post 245 for nine.
Mushfiqur’s 75-ball knock, alongside valuable contributions from Shakib (40 off 51 balls) and Mahmudullah (41 off 49), lifted Bangladesh after they were reeling at 56 for four in the 13th over.
Shakib and Mushfiqur took control for some time with a 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
However, Shakib appeared to be struggling in the hot and humid conditions here, taking a medical break before eventually being dismissed by Ferguson in the 30th over.
In the 36th over, pacer Matt Henry gave the Kiwis relief as he bowled Mushfiqur with a beautiful slower off-cutter that stayed low and uprooted the off-stump, leaving Bangladesh at 175 for six.
After losing the seventh wicket in Towhid Hridoy for 13, Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed (17) added 34 runs for the eighth wicket before the latter gave a catch to Daryl Mitchell off Santner. (PTI)
