Bangladesh came under pressure early in the series-deciding third ODI in Chittagong. New Zealand pacer Will O’Rourke produced a brilliant spell with the new ball.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Liton Das turned Bangladesh’s innings around after a batting disaster. The Tigers scored 265 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
Bangladesh suffered a setback early in the innings. Saif Hasan lost his wicket in the first over.
Will O’Rourke’s off-stump delivery was misjudged, hitting the edge of the bat and into the gloves of wicketkeeper Tom Latham. The opener had to retire without scoring any runs.
New Zealand created one chance in the second over but failed to convert it. The umpire did not respond despite strong appeals after Nathan Smith’s ball hit the pads.
O’Rourke struck again in the third over. Tanjid Hasan lost control while playing a ball outside the off-stump. He was dismissed for 1 run off 5 balls.
Then Soumya Sarkar and Shanto tried to put up some resistance. Soumya played some spectacular shots but was not completely at ease. A small partnership of 23 runs came off 38 balls. However, this partnership was broken again by O’Rourke’s strike. The ball outside the off-stump hit the edge of the bat and hit the stumps. Soumya scored 18 runs off 26 balls. As a result, Bangladesh had to be bowled out by the top order before 10 overs.
After overcoming the initial setback, Shanto and Liton formed a reliable partnership to build an innings in Chittagong. Although they started slowly for the fourth wicket, the two batsmen increased their run rate as time passed. Shanto reached his personal half-century in the 26th over of the innings, scoring a fifty off 70 balls. This captain has scored a fifty in two consecutive matches. On the other hand, Liton was quite restrained in the beginning, focusing on surviving the wicket without taking risks.