Google

Monday, December 31, 2007

Vettori and BcCullum thrash Bangladesh

The last day of the year was a memorable one for Daniel Vettori, who won another toss, grabbed five easy wickets to become New Zealand's highest limited-overs wicket-taker, and basked in his first series victory since taking over the captaincy after the World Cup.

Rain was expected but the weather held up in sunny Queenstown, New Zealand's "Vegas by the Lake", and Vettori played all his cards right to spin Bangladesh out for just 93, a total overhauled by Brendon McCullum's murderous 29-ball 80 before the local caterers burned lunch. Against the backdrop of the scenic Remarkables hill range, Bangladesh were simply annihilated, a 3-0 sweep was completed, and the hosts went into the New Year in a festive mood ahead of a busy season.

Before this game Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh's captain, demanded his side improve from an "unacceptable" performance in the second match, but it appeared no one was listening. Vettori's good luck at the toss continued and he had little hesitation in giving his bowlers a crack at a struggling Bangladeshi top order, whose penchant for driving on the up had them in knots. They got away with it in Napier, to an extent, but struggled in seam-friendly conditions where the ball didn't come onto the ball all that easily.

Kyle Mills' good series continued as he bowled Junaid Siddique in the third over, going for an expansive drive and inside-edging back onto his stumps. Mills and every seamer included bowled accurately and asked plenty of questions of the batsmen. Michael Mason, sporting a bit of hair dye in his first game since the World Cup, picked up an out-of-sorts Tamim Iqbal in his second over, the 16th. Struggling to time the ball off the square, Tamim saw some width and poked at it, but was smartly snapped at slip by Scott Styris, diving to his left. His laborious 13 from 56 deliveries summed up Bangladesh's predicament.

Source : http://content-ind.cricinfo.com

No comments: