HAMILTON: Opener Martin Guptill hit a fighting century to guide New Zealand to their sixth consecutive victory in the World Cup with a three-wicket win over an inspired Bangladesh here at Seddon Park on Friday.

Guptill scored 105 for his sixth ODI hundred to help the co-hosts chase down a daunting 289-run target with seven balls to spare on a batting-friendly pitch in a match in which the Black Caps were tested for the first time in the tournament.

Guptill’s knock overshadowed Moh­a­mmad Mahmudullah’s second consecutive hundred, his 128 not out propelling Bangladesh to 288-7 in their 50 overs.

Bangladesh caught New Zealand napping at 33-2 by taking the key wickets of Brendon McCullum (eight) and Kane Williamson (one) by opening with spin from both ends -- only the second time in World Cup history when slow bowlers opened the attack.

New Zealand did the same against South Africa in the 2011 quarter-final in Dhaka.

Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan took both the early wickets before Guptill and Ross Taylor (56) revived the innings through their 131-run stand for the third wicket.

Guptill took a single off paceman Taskin Ahmed to reach his hundred off 88 balls before holing out to Hasan after suffering leg cramps. He hit 11 boundaries and two sixes during his 100-ball knock.

Taylor, who hit five fours, added another 46 with Grant Elliott (39) before Bangladesh took three wickets in the space of 37 runs to get a sniff of an upset victory.

Corey Anderson, who hit three fours and as many sixes, fell for 39 before Tim Southee hit a six and a four to seal New Zealand’s first win after seven successive defeats against Bangladesh between 2010-2013 -- all away from home. Hasan finished with 4-55.

Earlier, Mahmudullah rescued Bangladesh from a struggling 27-2 after they were put in to bat.

Mahmudullah, dropped on one by Anderson off Southee, anchored the innings and added an invaluable 90 for the third wicket with Soumya Sarkar (51) and another 78 for the sixth with Sabbir Rahman who made a fiery 23-ball 40.

Mahmudullah steered paceman Mitchell McClenaghan towards third man for a couple to complete his hundred off 111 balls before blowing a kiss to the applauding Bangladeshi fans.

He became only the second Bangladeshi batsman to score back-to-back hundreds in all ODIs after Shahriar Nafees who achieved the feat against Zimbabwe at home in 2006.

In all, Mahmudullah hit 12 fours and three sixes as New Zealand bowlers were tested for the first time in the event with Southee going wicketless.

Rahman raised the tempo by hitting two sixes and five fours to help Bangladesh add 104 runs in the last ten overs.

Left-arm paceman Trent Boult had jolted Bangladesh by dismissing Imrul Kayes (two) and Tamim Iqbal (13) in his first spell to finish with 2-56.

Anderson removed senior Bangladeshi batsmen Shakib Al Hasan for 23 and Mushfiqur Rahim for 15 to finish with 2-43.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal c Anderson b Boult13

Imrul Kayes b Boult 2

Soumya Sarkar c Anderson b Vettori 51

Mahmudullah not out 128

Shakib Al Hasan c Ronchi b Anderson 3

Mushfiqur Rahim c Ronch b Anderson 15

Sabbir Rahman c McCullum b Elliott 40

Nasir Hossain c Taylor b Elliott 11

Rubel Hossain not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4) 5

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 288

DID NOT BAT: Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-27, 3-117, 4-151, 5-182, 6-260, 7-287.

BOWLING: Southee 10-1-51-0; Boult 10-3-56-2 (1w); McClenaghan 8-0-68-0; Vettori 10-0-42-1; Anderson 10-0-43-2 (2w); Elliott 2-0-27-2 (1w).

NEW ZEALAND:

M. Guptill c Hossain b Hasan 105

B. McCullum c Sarkar b Hasan 8

K. Williamson c Iqbal b Hasan 1

R. Taylor lbw b Nasir 56

G. Elliott c Ahmed b Hossain 39

C. Anderson b Nasir 39

L. Ronchi c Nasir b Hasan 9

D. Vettori not out 16

T. Southee not out12

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4) 5

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 48.5 overs) 290

DID NOT BAT: Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan.

FALL OF WKTS: 1-27, 2-33, 3-164, 4-210, 5-219, 6-247, 7-269.

BOWLING: Hasan 8.5-1-55-4; Islam 10-0-58-0; Hossain 8-1-40-1; Ahmed 8-0-49-0 (2w); Sarkar 4-0-19-0 (1w); Rahman 2-0-14-0; Mahmudullah 3-0-22-0 (1w); Nasir 5-0-32-2.

RESULT: New Zealand won by three wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Martin Guptill

UMPIRES: Richard Kettleborough (England) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: Nigel Llong (England)

MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad (England).

Published in Dawn March 14th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play