New Zealand take series whitewash

Third one-day international, Dhaka:
New Zealand 250-7 beat Bangladesh 167-7 by 83 runs

Match scorecard

Sinclair had an aggregate of 128 in his two innings of the series

New Zealand predictably beat Bangladesh in the third and final one-day international in Dhaka for a 3-0 win.

The margin of victory was a convincing 83 runs. New Zealand racked up 250-7, the hosts responding with 167-7.

Mathew Sinclair (66) and Scott Styris (51) were the Kiwis in form with the bat on Sunday, while Chirs Cairns pillaged 34 off just 16 deliveries.

Skipper Daniel Vettori took 3-25 in his 10 overs after Bangladesh's best bowler Mohammad Rafique had collected 4-63.

Of the Bangladeshi batsmen, only Nafis Iqbal (40) and Khaled Mashud (40 not out) produced decent performances.

But Iqbal, batting at three, took 86 balls to get his runs. And Mashud, standing in as skipper for the injured Habibul Bashar, once again seemed to be batting too low at seven.

There had been a glimmer of hope for Bangladesh when they reduced New Zealand to 105-4 in the 27th over.

But a partnership of 86 between Styris and Craig McMillan (39) settled the tourists before Cairns launched a ferocious onslaught during the closing overs.

This just adds yet more evidence to the case that Bangladesh were given Test and ODI status far too early From JRJ Have your say on TMS

Bangladesh would have had to score their fifth-highest total ever in one-day internationals to win the match and it never looked like happening once Javed Omar was lbw to James Franklin in the second over.

Rafique, promoted to open, fell to Kyle Mills for 21 and once Scott Styris had dislodged Rajin Saleh for a duck, Vettori got stuck in.

Afterwards, Vettori said: "It was a nice finish. It's a good preparation for our tour to Australia.

"Everyone is happy with the result. We did a good job in batting and bowling."

Mashud said: "It was a hard job for us after they scored nearly 100 in the last 10 overs. But they played better cricket in the series."

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New Zealand: Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum, Chris Harris, Daniel Vettori (captain), James Franklin and Kyle Mills.

Bangladesh: Javed Omar, Nafis Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mashud (captain), Manjural Islam, Mohammad Rafique, and Tapash Baishya.

Umpires: Mark Benson, Akhtaruddin Shaheen.