Bangladesh narrowly averted some humiliation with the assistance of a valiant solitary delivery from Soumya Sarkar on December 20, but it was not enough to prevent them from losing the second ODI and the series to New Zealand at Nelson.
Jacob Duffy swiftly bowled two runs over after New Zealand elected to bowl, placing the onus on Sarkar to assist them in mounting a comeback. His vigilance significantly increased subsequent to a rapid start, which comprised three fours in an over delivered by William O’Rourke. He was able to stabilize the ship briefly with Towhid Hridoy prior to forming an alliance with Mushfiqur Rahim.
Both players made nearly equal contributions to a 91-run stand before Rahim fell victim to Duffy’s third of the match. Now accompanied solely by the lower-order, Sarkar initiated a further expansion of his scoring rate.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals at the opposing end, Sarkar continued to nibble away at the boundaries in order to amass his highest-ever ODI total. By remaining at the crease until the final over, he ensured that Bangladesh had a viable total with which to contend.
However, the pursuit was rendered relatively effortless by the upper order of New Zealand. Rachin Ravindra scored 76 runs in 11 overs as the opener’s partner before succumbing to Hasan Mahmud. Henry Nicholls joined Young, and the two batsmen contributed to New Zealand’s approach to the target with a brisk 128-run stand. Despite the fact that both batters failed to score centuries, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell provided the concluding flourishes as New Zealand secured the victory with 22 balls remaining.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 291 in 49.5 overs (Soumya Sarkar 169, Mushfiqur Rahim 45) lost to New Zealand 296/3 in 46.2 overs (Henry Nicholls 95, Will Young 89, Rachin Ravindra 45) by 7 wickets
