/ 28 December 2007

Kiwis wrap up one-day series

New Zealand produced a solid all-round performance to wrap up their three-match one-day series against Bangladesh with a 102-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis system in the second game in Napier on Friday.

New Zealand had scored 335-5 in their 50 overs, with Peter Fulton top-scoring with 83, before rain forced the players from the field after the 43rd over of Bangladesh’s innings.

The visitors had reached 181-6 when umpires Peter Parker and Tony Hill called the game off. Farhad Reza was on 11, while Mushfiqur Rahim was on four.

Aftab Ahmed top-scored with 54, while opener Tamim Iqbal scored 43. New Zealand’s Kyle Mills had figures of 4-40 off 10 overs.

Iqbal and Junaid Siddiqui gave the visitors a flying start, but after the pair and captain Mohammad Ashraful had been dismissed to leave them 68-3 in the 15th over, they never really challenged the total.

New Zealand fast bowler Mark Gillespie, who was smashed for 16 runs in his only over, left the field immediately afterwards with a shoulder injury and did not reappear.

Fulton was ably supported by the rest of the top order with Jamie How, who scored 88 in the six-wicket victory in the first match on Wednesday, adding 74.

Big-hitting all-rounder Jacob Oram produced a sparkling example of his power at the end of the innings, blasting four boundaries and four sixes in scoring 55 off 31 balls. New Zealand’s score was their second-highest in one-day internationals against Bangladesh, falling just short of the 338-4 they scored in Sharjah in 1990. It was their highest one-day score against Bangladesh in New Zealand.

The final match is in Queenstown on Dec. 31. — Reuters