New Zealand secure series victory

Ashraful bowled by Oram

The BLACKCAPS, led by Ross Taylor’s third ODI century, crushed Bangladesh by 79 runs in the deciding international at the Divisional Stadium in Chittagong to claim the three-match series 2-1.

Taylor cracked an impressive 103 off 119 balls to lead the tourists to 249 for seven and the Tigers were in strife early and never recovered to fall well short of their target on 170 for eight.The BLACKCAPS won the toss and chose to bat and their top order woes seemed destined to continue after openers Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum were dismissed cheaply to leave them struggling at 13 for two in the seventhBut Jamie How and Taylor combined to put on 125 for the third wicket to haul them out of trouble and set them on the way for a decent total.How was the main aggressor in the partnership, stroking 73 from 82 balls and in the process chalked up his seventh ODI half century from 54 balls.He fell when he was beaten in the air by young off-spinner Naeem Islam on a wicket that was offering turn and bounce for the slow bowlers.From being well placed at 138 for three after 32 overs, the BLACKCAPS lost wickets regularly to curb their hopes of a daunting total.Scott Styris (12), Jacob Oram (3) and Daniel Flynn (5) failed to get going and at 201 for six in the 44th over the BLACKCAPS were well short of what they would have been looking for.Taylor reached his century in the 47th over from 117 balls which included five fours and four sixes but was dismissed two balls later trying to hit a full toss out of the ground.Daniel Vettori (19 not out) and Kyle Mills (18 not out) added 30 from the last three overs to nudge the score closer to what the tourists would have wanted.Bangladesh enjoyed a fortunate start when Taylor dropped Tamim Iqbal at first slip off the first ball of their innings, but the unlucky Mills soon enticed Zunaed Siddique into a false shot and the Tigers were in trouble.The introduction of Jeetan Patel and Oram put more pressure on the hosts and the pair combined to reduce Bangladesh to 59 for five.Patel, aided by a smart catch by McCullum, removed Iqbal for a quickfire 35 just two balls after Oram had dismissed debutant Imrul Kayes.Oram, who failed with the bat for the first time in the series, then removed the dangerous Mohammad Ashraful when the Tigers’ skipper tried to get inventive as the required run-rate mounted but only succeeded in yorking himself.Tim Southee and Mills ensured there would be no fightback and the hosts were condemned to defeat when they slid to 98 for seven in the 35th over.The Tigers’ Naeem Islam and Abdur Razzak delayed the inevitable with some spirited resistance to add 46 for the eighth wicket before Ryder caught the edge of Razzak’s bat for 27.Islam ended unbeaten on 46 after a laborious 106-ball innings but the winning margin did not reflect the yawning gap between to the two sides on the day.The series had been all square leading tin to the match after Bangladesh won the series opener in Mirpur by seven wickets on Thursday while the BLACKCAPS forced a decider after winning by 75 runs at the same venue on Saturday.The series win will give the BLACKCAPS a big confidence boost heading into the two-match test series, which starts in Mirpur on Friday.
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