New Zealand 330 for 6 (Taylor 69, Nicholls 64) beat Bangladesh 242 (Sabbir 102, Southee 6-65) by 88 runs
New Zealand completed a 3-0 whitewash of Bangladesh after trouncing them by 88 runs in the third ODI in Dunedin. The visitors hardly had an answer with the bat as Tim Southee took 6 for 65 in his comeback ODI, or the ball, as the home side put them to the sword in good batting conditions earlier in the day.
Sabbir Rahman's maiden ODI hundred was the only source of joy for the visitors. The knock of 102 rounded off a decent comeback in this ODI series for Sabbir, following a three-week reduction in his six-month suspension that allowed him to be here in the first place.
Earlier, New Zealand's 330 for six, after being sent into bat, was built around half-centuries from Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham, before Southee, back into the ODI fold after a considerable gap, led the bowling with a superb opening burst, and a fine finish.
He first removed Tamim Iqbal, who finished a horrid ODI series with a duck off the second ball of the chase. His departure off a horrid shot was followed by one from Soumya Sarkar, who, with his feet rooted to the crease, missed Southee's late inswinger in the first over itself. Liton Das once again made just one, for the third game in a row, falling lbw to Southee in his second over.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah threatened to steer Bangladesh to a semblance of respectability but just when they appeared to have got their eye in, both fell to poor shots. Mushfiqur, already troubled by a rib injury and a nasty blow to the fingers in the innings, top-edged Trent Boult to third-man. Mahmudullah followed suit, as he top-edged Colin de Grandhomme to deep square-leg; Colin Munro taking both catches.
From 61 for five in the 15th over, Mohammad Saifuddin and Sabbir got things in order with a 101-run sixth-wicket stand. Sabbir stroked the ball confidently through the covers and point, in addition to pulling with good control. He was dropped in the 11th over when Lockie Ferguson parried one over the ropes at fine-leg, but that hiccup apart, he batted smoothly to hit 12 fours and two sixes in his 110-ball effort.
Saifuddin, too, looked the part, as he accumulated runs, relying on ones and twos in his 63-ball 44, which included four boundaries.
Southee removed Mashrafe Mortaza, Mehidy Hasan and Sabbir, the last wicket to fall, to take his second haul of six or more wickets in ODIs. Incidentally, his other such effort - 7 for 33 against England - came on the same date, exactly four years ago at the 2015 World Cup.
By contrast, New Zealand's batting effort was a tutorial on how to build an ODI innings. Despite the loss of Munro in the fifth over, Martin Guptill and Nicholls got them out of trouble, before Nicholls and Taylor followed up on the good work to put on 92 runs for the third wicket and give New Zealand a platform to launch in the final 20 overs.
Taylor scored most of his runs in front of the wicket, while Nicholls got most of his boundaries square of the wicket on both sides. Latham then struck a quickfire 59 with three sixes over the leg-side and two fours through the covers.
He was also involved in a 55-run fourth-wicket stand with Taylor, who top scored with 69, and a 65-run fifth-wicket stand with James Neesham, which took only 6.4 overs. Neesham and de Grandhomme made 37 each, the latter getting them in just 15 balls with two sixes and four fours.
Along with Mitchell Santner, de Grandhomme added 46 runs in the last 3.3 overs to get New Zealand to a score beyond Bangladesh's reach.
Bangladesh's bowling attack continued to unravel with Mustafizur Rahman, considered their most reliable bowler, conceding 93 runs in his ten overs. Saifuddin and Mehidy offered control, as they conceded runs at less than five for 20 overs, but the lack of penetration in these conditions was evident.
