Boult shines as NZ hammer tourists in one-sided romp
New Zealand’s batsmen barely needed to break sweat — but rising star Devon Conway tarnished his debut with a poor shot yesterday.
The Black Caps recorded an eight-wicket victory in the opening one-day international against Bangladesh after their attack dismissed the tourists for just 131 in Dunedin, paving the way for opener Henry Nicholls to guide New Zealand home in cruise mode after just 21.2 overs.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 5475 at University Oval, Nicholls hit 49 not out in a composed knock and it looked like Conway would accompany him until the end of the innings before he was caught for 27.
The run chase was short but not so sweet for the inexperienced Bangladesh bowlers as Martin Guptill arrived at the crease with an attacking mindset.
Guptill whacked four sixes
and three fours as New Zealand raced to 50 inside five overs, but he tried to launch Bangladesh’s attack into orbit once too often, nicking a Taskin Ahmed delivery to depart for 38 runs.
That brought debutant Conway to the middle, and the mature run machine was happy to steadily accumulate his first international ODI runs as Nicholls provided the more aggressive posture from the other end.
Still, Guptill’s dismissal had an effect similar to Team NZ falling off their foils, and the Black Caps bobbed along at relatively sedate rate for the rest of their innings.
Earlier, stand-in captain Tom Latham, in his 100th ODI, won the toss and decided to bowl on an overcast morning.
Tim Southee was the bowler to miss out, but there was no respite for the tourists due to the conditions and variety in the Black Caps attack.
Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Jimmy Neesham all caused Bangladesh issues, with Jamieson justifying his selection after a challenging T20 series with some lifting deliveries and consistent line and length, despite not claiming a wicket.
However, Boult was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 4-27, and he made the breakthrough in the fifth over of the innings and the third over of his outstanding opening spell.
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal had already been beaten twice by Boult’s swing and pace before he was trapped lbw by the world’s best ODI bowler.
Boult grabbed his second wicket just three balls later, with Soumya Sarkar lofting a poor shot to Devon Conway at point.
Opener Liton Kumer Das was next to go, deceived by a Neesham slower ball to leave Bangladesh reeling at 42-3.
Boult, in particular, was getting good carry from the harbour end, with keeper Latham forced to take some deliveries over his head.
ODI king Boult said Jamieson’s ability to lock down the tourists’ batsmen with his line and bounce was a sign of his growing maturity after a bumpy
T20 series against Australia.
‘‘White ball cricket can be a cheeky format times. You think you are on top of it for a minute and things can get pulled back pretty quickly.’’
‘‘But the guy’s got a tremendous work ethic and he’s a big asset for New Zealand cricket.
‘‘He’s seven foot and can bowl 140kmh and can bat a bit as well.
‘‘I know that he is really enjoying the challenge that comes
with bowling under a bit of pressure, but I though the way the guys all hung in there today, and even [Mitch] Santner coming in with a few key wickets, it was pretty satisfying.’’
For the record, Jamieson finished 0-25 but those figures don’t really tell the full story. He conceded only two boundaries in his eight overs and was the most economical bowler until a six late in the innings blew out his numbers a touch. He found a nice length and let his height do the rest, troubling the batsmen on occasion with bounce even on fuller deliveries.
Bangladesh bowler Taskin Ahmed experienced the pressure the Black Caps built from the other side, lamenting after the game that Bangladesh really needed a target of at least ‘‘260-270’’ to stand a chance at University Oval.