03 November 2004	Wednesday	19 Ramazan 1425

CHITTAGONG, Nov 2: Fast bowler Kyle Mills grabbed four wickets in a dream spell as New Zealand thrashed Bangladesh by 138 runs in the opening one-day international on Tuesday.

Mills, 25, virtually reduced the match to a no-contest when he wrecked Bangladesh's top order with four quick wickets in his incisive six-over opening spell to eventually finish with a career-best haul of 4-14.

Bangladesh had an opportunity to post a rare victory against a Test-playing nation when they restricted New Zealand to a modest 224 on a slow pitch despite a fighting 74 from man-of-the-match Chris Cairns.

But the hosts could never recover from Mills's early blows, crashing to their fourth-lowest total of 86 to suffer their 89th defeat in 96 matches. They have so far registered just two wins against Test-playing sides, beating Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Skipper Habibul Bashar, returning to the side after missing a recent two-Test series against the tourists due to a thumb injury, top-scored with 22 in a dismal batting performance.

The tourists were struggling against a disciplined Bangladeshi spin attack before Cairns propped up the innings with an 83-ball 74. He hit fives sixes in his 23rd half-century.

Cairns fell in the last over when he bottom-edged a Nazmul Hossain delivery on to his stumps to become the young fast bowler's fourth victim of the innings.

Hossain, 17, was the most successful bowler as he finished with 4-40 off 8.2 overs in only his third one-dayer.

Left-arm spinners Manjural Rana (2-35) and Mohammad Rafique (1-28) played key roles in restricting New Zealand with their tight bowling. They never allowed the top-order batsmen to score freely, conceding just 63 runs off 20 overs.

New Zealand were 94-5 before Cairns steadied the innings with a 49-run stand for the sixth wicket with Scott Styris (43).

The tourists were still in danger of falling before the 200-mark before Cairns went on the rampage in the closing overs.

He completed his half-century with a six over long-on off Hossain. He hit one more six in the same over and then two in the next off Tapash Baisya to pull his team out of trouble.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

P.G. Fulton b Nazmul 9

N.J. Astle b Nazmul 27

H.J.H. Marshall st K. Mashud b Manjural 7

S.B. Styris run out 43

C.D. McMillan c K. Mashud b Baisya 17

B.B. McCullum b Rafique 8

C.L. Cairns b Nazmul 74

C.Z. Harris c Rajin b Manjural 5

D.L. Vettori b Baisya 12

A.R. Adams c K. Mahmud b Nazmul 4

K.D. Mills not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-11, NB-3) 18

Total (all out, 49.2 overs) 224

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-49, 3-50, 4-77, 5-94, 6-143, 7-168, 8-191, 9-224.

BOWLING: Tapash Baisya 10-0-58-2 (3nb, 1w); Nazmul Hossain 8.2-1-40-4 (2w); Manjural Islam Rana 10-0-35-2 (2w); Khaled Mahmud 5-0-28-0 (1w); Mohammad Rafique 10-2-28-1; Rajin Saleh 6-0-31-0 (5w).

BANGLADESH:

Aftab Ahmed lbw b Mills 4

Javed Omar c Fulton b Mills 3

Rajin Saleh c McMillan b Mills 4

Habibul Bashar lbw Styris 22

M. Ashraful c McCullum b Mills 2

M. Islam Rana c Styris b Vettori 13

Khaled Mashud lbw Styris 2

Khaled Mahmud st McCullum b Vettori 14

M. Rafique c Styris b Harris 11

Tapash Baisya c Adams b Vettori 2

Nazmul Hossain not out 1

EXTRAS (W-7, NB-1) 8

TOTAL (all out, 31.5 overs) 86

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-10, 3-23, 4-27, 5-45, 6-51, 7-68, 8-79, 9-83.

BOWLING: Mills 7-2-14-4 (1nb, 3w); Adams 6-1-24-0 (1w); Cairns 4-2-5-0; Styris 6-3-13-2; Harris 5-0-21-1 (2w); Vettori3.5-0-9-3.

SECOND MATCH: Dhaka (D/N) on Friday.

THIRD MATCH: Dhaka (D/N) on Sunday. -Agencies