Ish Sodhi, a leg-spinner for New Zealand, took his first five-wicket haul in an ODI on Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The match was the second of three ODIs that New Zealand is playing against Bangladesh. Bangladesh was defeated by New Zealand by 86 runs.
Sodhi’s career-best numbers in one-day internationals saw him capture six wickets for 39 runs and guided the Blackcaps to their first victory over the Tigers since 2008. This came amid a timeframe in which New Zealand failed to win on seven occasions. Sodhi’s performance helped the Blackcaps win for the first time since 2008.
Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah Riyad, both veteran players who had previously played for Bangladesh, led their team in run scoring with 44 and 49 runs, respectively, during their individual innings. Tamim’s 58-ball 44 included seven fours until he gloved one to the wicketkeeper while attempting a lap sweep, which effectively ended Bangladesh’s chances of winning the second match. Sodhi and Mahmudullah’s departure in the 36th over effectively ended Bangladesh’s chances of winning the first match.
Due to a delivery that was completely without merit, Mahmudullah was fired. Mahmudullah had to stretch out from a distance in order to catch a short ball hit by Cole McConchie that turned down the leg side. Although he had the opportunity to blast it over the fielder stationed at short-fine leg or perhaps hit it for a six, he was only able to offer Finn Allen some catching practice.
His 76-ball 49-run knock brought him within one run of reaching 5,000 runs in ODIs, which would have made him only the fourth Bangladesh batter to achieve the feat. However, the 37-year-old, who held the key in Bangladesh chasing down New Zealand’s 254, was dismissed in the 36th over, leaving the Tigers at 149 for seven when he was out. This left the Tigers with a score of 149 for seven.
As a result of Kyle Jamieson’s performance in the match, in which he took two wickets while only allowing 32 runs to be scored, he strengthened his position to be selected for the New Zealand team in the event that Tim Southee is unable to make a full recovery from his operation in time. This would be the only chance for Jamieson to earn a seat in the New Zealand squad.
Both Lockie Ferguson, who was captaining the team, and McCondhie, an off-spinner, took one wicket each.