Oram-inspired Kiwis level series

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Bangladesh’s hopes of recording a major series triumph for the first time suffered a blow as New Zealand recorded an ultimately routine 75-run victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

The Tigers made a brilliant start and had the Kiwis on the ropes for most of the first session like they did in the opening game on Thursday that they won by seven wickets.

But the home side came unstuck while chasing a fairly attainable target of 213 due to some overtly cautious batting approach against an spirited Kiwi bowling that received a real fillip after Jacob Oram, who led the late recovery like the first game, clobbered 25 runs in the final over off left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak.

Oram, who smashed three sixes in that expensive over, struck an unbeaten 75 and the Kiwi bowlers followed his lead and gave nothing away in a sterling performance that saw them bowl Bangladesh out for 137 to level the three-match series 1-1.

Bangladesh were however on top moments after Mohammad Ashraful won a good toss for the second time and invited his opponents to bat first again.

This time it was left-arm seamer Syed Rasel, who was the hero with a three-wicket haul, ripped through the Kiwi top-order with a disciplined attack before Oram hit a match-saving unbeaten 62-ball 75 to take the score to a fighting 212-9 in 50 overs.

On the very tricky pitch, the overcautious Tigers however collapsed to 137 all-out in 42.4 overs as New Zealand bounced back to the series strongly after a shocking defeat. This makes Tuesday’s last game in Chittagong a series-decider.

Oram stood tall to rescue his side as the left-hander, who also smashed a half-century in the first game, gave his side an impetus in the second session.

The mighty man however was lucky not to return to the pavilion when he was on 26 as Zunaed Siddiqui and Razzak collided at cover to spill the easy catch. The southpaw celebrated his ‘life’ with a huge six over mid-wicket with Shahadat Hossain being the unlucky bowler.

It could have even been possible for the Tigers to wrap up their opponents below the 200-run margin if they had been alert enough to appeal for a run out against last man Jeetan Patel as the TV reply clearly showed that the direct throw of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza from mid-off knocked out the stumps before the batsman entered into the crease. The scoreboard then read 176-9.

Man-of-the-match Oram also captured two wickets including Ashraful, who played a patient knock of 40 off 86 balls, after Kyle Mills had taken two early wickets to get his team back into the contest.

Chasing 213, the home side had desperately needed a positive start to secure consecutive ODI wins against a Test nation other than Zimbabwe but Tamim Iqbal again failed with a second-ball duck while Mushfiqur Rahim failed to deliver this time being bowled by Mills with the score on 18.

Ashraful joined first match hero Zunaed and it was fantastic to watch the right-hander batting with responsibility for the second consecutive game.

The two batsmen were however too slow and soon fell well behind the run-rate as the team’s fifty came in 20 overs.

The Tigers might have compensated for their start but Vettori took a spectacular one-hand catch at mid-off to send Zunaed (32) back to the dressing room to break the 53-run third-wicket stand.

It was all but over for the home team when Shakib Al Hasan and Nayeem Islam were dismissed in consecutive deliveries as Bangladesh were reduced to 86 for 5. With a target of scoring nearly seven-runs in an over Shakib swept Vettori only to reach at the safe hands of Oram at mid-wicket while Nayeem didn’t get the opportunity to even get strike when he fell short of returning to the crease after his skipper wrongly called him for a run.

The remaining batsmen walked in under pressure and cracked at a time when runs were needed and only the small 27 run-a-ball cameo of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza entertained the local crowd.

Earlier, New Zealand’s top order flopped once again after being put in as the local spinners did a good job after Rasel caused the initial damage.

Shakib was most economical conceding 20 runs in his ten-over spell to claim two wickets while off-spinner Nayeem captured two wickets for 20 runs in 4 overs.

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