Champions Trophy Match 9: Bangladesh vs New Zealand

Champions Trophy Match 9: Bangladesh vs New Zealand: Scorecard

It's the kind of position that you would think "only Michael Bevan could win this match from here". 4/33, chasing 266 to win. Really, the match is over. But once again, the flat decks on which these matches are being played have come to the rescue, and once again the side batting second has chased down what should have been an insurmountable total through good cricket yes, but also through the lack of help for the bowlers with ball or pitch conditions.

New Zealand made much the same mistakes of the teams batting first in the past two matches. They were unable to accelerate in the middle overs when they had the opportunity to do so. Excellent bowling in the middle overs from Shakib and Taskin and Mashrafe tied up the pair of Williamson and Taylor, and led directly to the run out of the former simply because they were unable to break free from the web they were weaving. His loss, and consistent wickets in the later overs thanks to a spell of 3/13 from Mosaddek meant that the Black Caps were completely shut down, and their final total of 8/265 was a great deal less than they would have expected to achieve, and in the modern game no matter who you are playing it is a tough total to defend.

Tim Southee came to the rescue, taking three wickets with his first 16 deliveries, and when Milne bowled Mushfiqur with the total at 4/33 in the 12th over, it should really have been no drama to complete an easy victory and put themselves in the A1 position for a semi-final place. But the ball stopped moving, the pitch gave no help at all to fast or spin bowlers, and once Southee, Boult and Milne were away from the bowling crease Shakib and Mahmudullah simply did as they pleased. Neesham and Anderson were passengers, and the Bangladeshi batsmen kept within a winnable run rate throughout. Towards the end of the innings they took their chances, especially Shakib, who brought up his century with a six to the joy of the strong Bangladesh crowd. His dismissal only left Mahmudullah to try and bring up his own century and the victory in one shot, by which he failed by only a metre to do. With 16 balls and five wickets in hand, Bangladesh had brought up perhaps their most famous victory.

New Zealand leave the tournament wondering where they are headed, having had the better of Australia and then been well schooled by both England and Bangladesh. The winners could now be unexpected semi finalists if England defeat Australia in tomorrow's match, despite having been well beaten in their first match and saved from oblivion against Australia by rain. Such is the fate of short tournaments where outside influences come in to play.