Bangladesh level series with easy win

Bangladesh defeated New Zealand by 6 wickets to level the three-match ODI series 1-1. The hosts chased down the target of 199 runs in just 35.3 overs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday. They had 87 balls in hand.

Chasing a small target, Saif Hasan was dismissed for 8 runs early on. Then Soumya Sarkar also returned for 8 runs. However, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Tanjid Hasan Tamim put up a great partnership to put the match under Bangladesh's control.

The two put up a partnership of 120 runs for the third wicket. Tanjid Hasan Tamim played a stormy innings of 76 runs off 58 balls. His innings included 10 fours and 4 sixes. He was dismissed despite having the potential for a century.

Liton Das returned for 7 runs but Shanto continued to bat responsibly. He remained unbeaten on 50 runs off 71 balls. The innings had 5 fours and 2 sixes.

In the end, Towhid Hridoy scored 30 and captain Mehedi Hasan Miraj remained unbeaten on 8 runs to lead the team to victory.

Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, getting all out for 198 runs in 48.4 overs. Nahid Rana bowled brilliantly for Bangladesh. He gave a match-winning performance, taking 5 wickets for 32 runs in 10 overs.

Shariful Islam and Taskin Ahmed took two wickets each. Soumya Sarkar and Rishad Hossain took one wicket each.

Nick Kelly scored the highest 50 runs for New Zealand. However, the visitors did not get a big collection as the other batters could not play a big innings.

With this win, the third and final match of the series has now become an undeclared final.