New Zealand sealed a semifinal spot in the Champions Trophy after cruising past Bangladesh by five wickets on the back of Rachin Ravindra’s century in Rawalpindi on Monday.
The victory with nearly four overs to spare also advanced India to the semifinals and eliminated tournament host and defending champion Pakistan and Bangladesh from contention.
Ravindra took a blow on the forehead in a game 16 days ago and missed the last three one-day internationals, but recovered to strike 112 off 105 balls and carry New Zealand to 240-5 in 46.1 overs in reply to Bangladesh's 236-9.
Bangladesh’s middle order capitulated against the off-spin of Michael Bracewell, who took 4-26 in 10 overs. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto led with 77. The 25 extras were the fourth highest tally in the innings.
“Feels nice to qualify,” New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said.
“The way we pulled things back with the ball was amazing. (It’s) hard to take middle-overs wickets in ODIs and Bracewell was amazing. He’s a quality bowler now, (and) the way he can change his pace on these wickets is outstanding.”
Ravindra stands tall
Fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana jolted New Zealand to 15-2 when Will Young, who made a century against Pakistan, went for a duck and Kane Williamson fell for rare consecutive single-digit scores in ODIs, 5 after 1.
Taskin clean-bowled Young with a nip-backer into the right-hander and Williamson edged the tall Rana, whom New Zealand batters were facing for the first time in an international.
But Ravindra combined with Devon Conway to revive the chase. They shared 57 in 12 overs before Pakistan's third pace bowler, Mustafizur Rahman, got Conway to chop on on 30.
Tom Latham (55) then joined Ravindra and they shared a match-winning 129-run stand.
The left-handers thwarted the pace of Nahid and were equally good against the spin of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain.
Ravindra, who batted at No. 4 in place of Daryl Mitchell, got a lucky escape on 93 when Miraz couldn’t hold onto a sharp low catch at point. He completed his fourth ODI century off 95 balls with 11 fours and a six.
Ravindra was dropped again after his century by Mahmudullah at mid-on, and the batter finally holed out in the deep to give Rishad his only wicket.
Latham was run out for 55, his third consecutive half-century, when New Zealand was just 23 runs shy of the target.
Bracewell finished off the game with a cover-driven boundary off Rishad, with Glenn Phillips unbeaten on 21.
“I was hoping not to get the pad on to bat," Bracewell said, "but it’s always nice to go out there and finish the game."
Bracewell baffles batters
Bracewell squeezed Bangladesh after its promising start in his unchanged 10-over spell. The off-spinner bowled 43 dot balls and conceded just one six and a boundary.
Shanto struggled to up the ante in his 110-ball knock, especially against Bracewell.
When Santner introduced him inside the powerplay, Bracewell struck off his second ball. Tanzid Hasan tried to play across the line on 24 in a 45-run opening stand with Shanto, and Williamson made a diving catch.
Bracewell dried up the runs and strangled the middle order with his deceptive pace, dismissing Towhid Hridoy (7), Mushfiqur Rahim (2) and Mahmudullah (4). Hridoy, who scored a century against India in the first match, was brilliantly snapped up by Williamson over his shoulder when he ran backwards from cover.
“Awesome to contribute to a win," Bracewell said. “The breeze across was like the conditions at home. … I’m geared up to bowl 10 overs in every game, even at Eden Park, but sometimes you don’t.”
Shanto was caught by Bracewell after he top-edged O’Rourke.
Jaker Ali (45) and Rishad Hossain (26) counterattacked against the pace, but New Zealand allowed them only 64 runs in the last 10 overs.
“I thought we started well with the bat,” Shanto said. “It’s a pretty good wicket, we just needed two big partnerships, but it was a disappointing (total) after 10 overs.”
On Tuesday, South Africa and Australia, which won their opening Group B games, face each other at the same venue.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Rizwan Ali, The Associated Press
