Mr Cricket UAE

BAN vs NZ: New Zealand's second-string side too good for Bangladesh as Kiwis lead ODI series 1-0

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Henry Nicholls and Nathan Smith

Henry Nicholls and Nathan Smith (Source: Bangladesh Cricket Board)

Mr Cricket UAE Staff

Mr Cricket UAE Staff

Published - 17 Apr 2026, 05:36 PM Read time - 6 mins

New Zealand's second-string side proved too good for Bangladesh as the hosts suffered a chastening 26-run loss in the first fixture of the three-match ODI series on April 17.

Elected to bat first after the coin fell in their favour, New Zealand didn't quite get off to a bright start as they lost opener Nick Kelly in the seventh over at an individual score of 7. However, Henry Nicholls and Will Young put their feet down and added 73 runs for the second wicket before Young failed to execute a reverse sweep off Rishad Hossain and gifted his wicket away at 30.

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Nicholls looked composed as ever and scored 68 off 83. He bided his time and dealt in boundaries, nine of them, whenever he found an opportunity to cash in. Nicholls also fell to Hossain.

Skipper Tom Latham (14) and Muhammad Abbas (14) got starts but lost their wickets before converting them into a big one. Dean Foxcroft played at almost a run-a-ball rate and scored 59 off 58 balls, studded with eight boundaries at a strike rate of 101.72.

A 21-run cameo by Nathan Smith allowed the Kiwis to post 247 for the loss of eight wickets. Taskin Ahmed (2/50), Shoriful Islam (2/27) and Rishad claimed two wickets apiece.

In reply, Bangladesh were dented early by Smith. He claimed the wickets of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Tanzid Hasan on consecutive balls in the fourth over to leave Bangladesh reeling at 21/2 in 3.2 overs.

However, the pair of Saif Hassan (57 off 76) and Litton Das (46 off 68) added 93 for the third wicket to rescue the hosts from a position of disarray. Will O'Rourke dismissed Hassan to snap the partnership, and then Foxcroft got Das to bring the tourists back in the hunt.

Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain added 52 for the fifth wicket to stabilise the innings, but just when it looked as if victory was a mere formality, Bangladesh crumbled. Slow left-arm orthodox bowler Jayden Lennox, who had troubled India in the three-match ODI series before the T20 World Cup, dismissed Afif, and that set the cat among the pigeons.

Blair Tickner came back into the attack and mopped up the tail before Smith put an end to Hridoy's innings and ended Bangladesh's hopes.

Top run-scorer of the match

Player

Team

Runs

Balls

Fours

Sixes

Strike Rate
Henry Nicholls

NZ

68

83

 9

0

 81.92

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player

Team

Overs

Maidens

Runs

Wickets

Economy
Blair Tickner

NZ

10

0

40

4

4.00

Player of the Match

Dean Foxcroft

Dean Foxcroft was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round brilliance. Foxcroft kept the scoreboard ticking and didn't let any scoring opportunity slip by as he batted at a strike rate of 101.72. He remained calm and held one end together as wickets continued to tumble around him. His wicket of Litton Das, proved vital as the senior batter was threatening to take the game away.

Turning Point

Afif Hossain's wicket turned the game on its head. Bangladesh were 184/4 and were firm favourites to win the contest with more than nine overs left. However, Afif lost his cool and charged down the track to Lennox to mow him over long-on, but ended up holing out. Bangladesh then suffered a dramatic collapse and fell short at the end.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Tom Latham (NZ)

"I think we were pretty happy at the halfway mark. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the guys found a way to get to a really competitive total. We were hoping that the wicket was going to deteriorate and get harder, and I certainly thought, definitely did that towards the back end of the innings tonight. So yeah, full credit to the guys. Yeah, they played fantastically well. You know, for us, as a batting unit, we talk about partnerships and contributions..and it's not necessarily the guys that have the big partnerships, those small contributions once the wicket fell, and that was really important today, even towards the backend, with a few of the bowlers. So, you know, credit to the way Dean anchored that innings towards the back end and did well to obviously get us to a really competitive total. Yeah, I think for us, it's always about improving and putting a good performance on and adapting to conditions and things like that. So, you know, hopefully results take care of itself if we're doing the things that we want to do from a team point of view, and look, we obviously fell on the right side tonight. We did a lot of good things. Hopefully we'll also be better off for the experience of playing on a surface like that, and, you know, potentially it might be the same in a couple of days' time, but it might be different. So we pride ourselves on adapting, and, as I said, I thought we did that really well today.."

Losing Team Captain, Mehidy Hasan (BAN)

"I think we bowled really well, 270 is not difficult to chase but our bowlers did great. If we took those two catches, we could have restricted them under 200 but we had a lot of positives. It's a great opportunity for Shoriful (last moment Mustafizur got injured), he bowled really well coming back after a long time. We have to finish well otherwise we cannot win. If we make big partnerships, definitely we will win."

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