CT News Online

In a historic moment for Bangladesh cricket, the Tigers secured their first-ever ODI victory in New Zealand by defeating the hosts by a big margin of nine wickets in the third ODI of the series in Napier on Saturday.

Chasing a modest target of 99, Bangladesh displayed remarkable efficiency, reaching the goal in just 15.1 overs and sealing their triumph against New Zealand.

After 18 straight defeats, Bangladesh finally managed to end their drought in New Zealand in ODIs against the host as they put on a stunning show in the final ODI of the series.

However, New Zealand won the first two matches of the series and clinched the title.

New Zealand, put in to bat, faced an early setback as their key performer, Will Young, fell for 26 runs. Despite brief resistance from Rachin Ravindra (8) and Henry Nicholls (11), Tanzim Hasan Sakib's impressive spell turned the tide.

The right-arm pacer claimed a stellar 3 for 14, while Shoriful Islam and Soumya Sarkar also contributed with three wickets each, restricting New Zealand to a meager 98.

Tanzim Hasan Shakib got one to seam away from Rachin Ravindra to fetch his outside edge early on after Bangladesh opted to field. Henry Nicholls was the next to go as he got a leading edge to depart for a scratchy 12-ball 1. Bangladesh were extremely good in that first powerplay, conceding only 27 runs and managed to build more pressure.

While Tom Latham and Will Young did rebuild to an extent, Shoriful Islam came back for his second spell and hit the top of the off stump to send the left-hander packing. In his next over, Shoriful got the other big fish as Young hit one straight to backward point. He made it three in three by once again finding a way past a batter's defence that saw Mark Chapman lose his stumps. 58/2 became 63/5 and there was simply no coming back from that.

While Tanzim came back to remove Tom Blundell, Soumya Sarkar ran through the tail to stun the home side as they got bowled out inside 32 overs. Sarkar couldn't repeat his heroics with the bat though as he had to leave retired hurt after something had started bothering his eye during the chase. But a small target meant Bangladesh didn't really have to break a sweat.

Anamul Haque got going with a couple of boundaries off Jacob Duffy before taking on Josh Clarkson for three boundaries in an over. William O'Rourke then bore the brunt of Najmul Shanto's assault as he hammered him for four successive boundaries. Shanto eventually got to his fifty and finished the job in just the 16th over.

With this triumph, Bangladesh sets the stage for the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand, commencing on December 27 in Napier.