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Bond sends Bangladesh crashing

New Zealand shot out Bangladesh for the lowest total of the Champions Trophy so far to register a thumping 167-run victory in an inconsequential Group A league match on MOnday.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 77, their second lowest score in one-day internationals, in just 19.3 overs after defending champions New Zealand had posted 244 for nine in their stipulated 50 overs.

However, with both the teams already out of the tournament, the result of this last league match was only of academic interest.

Bangladesh captain Khaled Mashud won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat. The Kiwis lost opener Nathan Astle in the third over before top-scorer Mathew Sinclair and captain Stephen Fleming put the innings back on track.

Sinclair batted through most of the innings to score 70 off 122 balls with five fours. His second wicket association with Fleming was worth 66 runs in about 11 overs.

Fleming scored 31 off 40 balls with five boundaries.

The New Zealand innings was also helped by substantial contributions from Scott Styris and Chris Harris, who made 26 runs each, and Jacob Oram, who scored 30.

Bangladesh also lost their opener early, with Al Sahariar becoming the first of the four victims of Shane Bond off the third ball of the innings.

That just triggered a collapse as Bangladesh lost a wicket in each of the first five overs to crash to 19 for five. Four of those wickets were claimed by Bond who finished with figures of four for 21 from five overs.

Tushar Imran was the sole batsman to have attacked the New Zealand bowling but just for a brief period. Imran hit four boundaries in his 20-run knock off 16 balls before being caught by Nathan Astle off Jacob Oram.

Mohammad Rafique made 17 runs while Khaled Mahmud scored 11.

This was the second lowest total put up by Bangladesh in one-day internationals. The lowest is 76 they scored against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year.

Bangladesh seemed to have justified their decision to field first when they restricted New Zealand's scoring rate in the middle overs and also picked up a few quick wickets. But, guided by Sinclair, New Zealand's late middle order came up with a spirited performance to take their side to a decent total.

New Zealand added 46 runs in the last five overs thanks mainly to the efforts of Oram, whose 30 came off 27 deliveries, with one four and a six, and Daniel Vettori who scored 16 off 12 balls.

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