The Black Caps opened their three-game ODI series against Bangladesh with a solid win in Mirpur on Friday night.
New Zealand won by 26 runs, scoring 247 for eight in their 50 overs before bowling out the hosts for 221.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, opener Henry Nicholls set the tone with an excellent 68 from 83 balls, as he and Will Young put on 73 for the second wicket to lay a solid foundation.
But solid bowling from the home team kept the run rate in check, until Dean Foxcroft and Nathan Smith closed the innings nicely.
Foxcroft, who was named player of the match, hit eight boundaries in his innings of 59 from 58 balls, while Smith scored a handy 21 from 22 balls.
Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Rishad Hossain all took two wickets each for Bangladesh.
New Zealand started the defence of their total well with Smith claiming two wickets inside the first five overs.
Bangladesh recovered, though, with Saif Hassan and Towhid Hridoy both scoring half-centuries to have the hosts on track for victory, at 184 for four in the 41st over.
But when spinner Jayden Lennox removed Afif Hossain for 27, the tide began to turn in favour of the Black Caps.
Paceman Blair Tickner, who took four for 40 from his 10 overs, was in imposing form at the death, as he cleaned up Bangladesh’s lower order.
Smith also finished with excellent figures, three for 45 from 9.3 overs, while Foxcroft was able to have a double celebration, claiming his first international wicket in his career, as finished with one for 25 from six overs.
"We thought 240 [247] is pretty chaseable so we had to bowl well," Foxcroft said.
"It’s not an easy place to come here and win games. It was extremely hot and we’re not used to it. It’s winter in New Zealand now."
The second ODI starts at 5pm today (NZ time).
• Cricket’s governing body is investigating allegations of corruption against Cricket Canada that were aired in a documentary at the weekend and included Canada’s T20 World Cup game against New Zealand this year, AP is reporting.
Corruption, Crime and Cricket by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, alleged that captain Dilpreet Bajwa’s fifth over against the Black Caps was under the scrutiny of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit.
Bajwa, 22, was named Canada captain just three weeks before the tournament, jointly co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand were 35 for two when Bajwa started the fifth over with a no-ball then bowled a legside wide before eventually conceding 15 runs off the over.
"The ACU is aware of the program broadcast by CBC," Andrew Ephgrave, the interim general manager of the ICC’s integrity unit, told AP in a statement."Consistent with its established operating procedures, the ACU is not in a position to comment on the substance of any allegations contained within it."
NEW ZEALAND
H Nicholls c Das b R Hossain 68
N Kelly b Islam 7
W Young c T Hasan b R Hossain 30
T Latham b M Hasan 14
M Abbas c Das b Islam 14
D Foxcroft b Rana 59
J Clarkson b Ahmed 8
N Smith not out 21
B Tickner b Ahmed 7
J Lennox not out 1
Extras (2b, 5lb, 10w, 1nb) 18
Total (for 8wts, 50 overs) 247
Fall: 1-21, 2-94, 3-127, 4-131, 5-165, 6-192, 7-226, 8-240.
Bowling: T Ahmed 10-0-50-2 (4w, 1nb), S Islam 10-2-27-2 (2w), M Hasan 10-1-54-1, N Rana 10-0-65-1 (3w), R Hossain 10-0-44-2 (1w).
BANGLADESH
S Hasan c Clarkson b O’Rourke 57
T Hasan b Smith 2
N Hossain b Smith 0
L Das b Foxcroft 46
T Hridoy c Nicholls b Smith 55
A Hossain c O’Rourke b Lennox 27
M Hasan c Latham b Tickner 6
R Hossain c & b Tickner 4
S Islam b Tickner 0
T Ahmed b Tickner 2
N Rana not out 0
Extras (1lb, 20w, 1nb) 22
Total (all out, 48.3 overs) 221
Fall: 1-21, 2-21, 3-114, 4-132, 5-184, 6-194, 7-202, 8-203, 9-214, 10-221.
Bowling: W O’Rourke 9-0-51-1 (4w), N Smith 9.3-1-45-3 (2w, 1nb), B Tickner 10-0-40-4 (4w), J Clarkson 4-0-27-0 (2w), J Lennox 10-0-32-1, D Foxcroft 6-0-25-1.
Result: New Zealand won by 26 runs. — RNZ/Allied Media
