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Ish Sodhi’s all-round show led New Zealand to a historic ODI win on Bangladesh soil. After a crucial cameo with the bat, Sodhi took a six-fer to bowl out Bangladesh for 168 and help the Lockie Ferguson-led side win the match by a comfortable margin of 86 runs at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
Sodhi broke the record for best bowling figures by a spinner against Bangladesh in ODIs. He took six wickets for 39 runs in his quota of 10 overs. Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori held the previous record with five wickets for seven runs in Queenstown in 2007. Sodhi is also the ninth bowler to take a six-wicket haul against Bangladesh.
Earlier, Ferguson won the toss and opted to bat first. Mustafizur Rahman got rid of both openers with the new ball. Khaled Ahmed dismissed Chad Bowes as the visitors struggled in the first powerplay overs. Henry Nicholls' 49-run knock and Tom Blundell's 66-ball 68 helped New Zealand recover. Wickets fell quickly again. It was Sodhi's 35-run knock that helped them post 254. The target would have been smaller had Litton Das not called Sodhi back after Hasan Mahmud ran him out for backing up too far at the non-striker’s end.
In the run chase, Das departed early. Then Sodhi preyed on Bangladesh's batting order. Tamim Iqbal was outfoxed by Sodhi as well. The opener missed his half-century and departed for 44. Mahmudullah tried to revive the run chase but wickets kept falling at the other end. Sodhi completed his six-fer. He would have broken Stuart Binny's record for best bowling figures against Bangladesh if not for the dropped catch. Mahmudullah top-scored with 49 as Bangladesh got all out for 168 in the 42nd over.
“Really good day. Historically we haven't done well here and hence it is nice to get the win. Nice of Litton for calling me back after the mankad (run out dismissal). That was the whole reason we decided to bat first as the ball would spin more in the second innings, even Ravindra and McConchie got the ball to spin. Playing ODI cricket leading into the WC is awesome, but this is a difficult place to play and to walk away with a win is awesome,” Sodhi said in the post-match presentation after he was adjudged ‘Player of the match’.
New Zealand are leading the three-ODI series by 1-0 after the first game ended in no result due to rain. The two teams will lock horns again at the same venue on September 26.
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