Excellent Kiwis bundle Tigers out for 244

New Zealand turned in a stellar display on the field to bundle out Bangladesh for 244 in their World Cup match at The Oval. The Kiwis were aided by some tentative and timid batting from Bangladesh's batsmen, many of whom relapsed into old bad habits as they stuttered to what seemed like a total just below par on an easy-paced wicket.

In a generally excellent bowling and fielding display Matt Henry stood out with figures of four for 47 from 9.2 overs, including the last one of Mohammad Saifuddin -- bowled by a yorker -- as Bangladesh left four balls unused. There were many starts from Bangladesh's top six, but no one apart from Shakib Al Hasan scored a fifty.

Shakib's 68-ball 64 had raised hopes of a total nearer to 300, but just when he had the Kiwi bowling by the scruff of the neck, he departed trying to cut medium pacer Colin de Grandhomme in the 31st over and being caught behind. In leaving after having done the hard work, he was sticking to a pattern seen throughout the innings, an old failing that Bangladesh had managed to avoid over the last month and in their first match against South Africa, which the Tigers won by 21 runs on Sunday.

Soumya Sarkar got off to another start with a 25-ball 25, and it seemed that Bangladesh would see out the early period under cloudy skies but the left-hander swiped across the line, even though he was hitting the ball well enough straight while hitting three boundaries, to lose his furniture to Matt Henry in the ninth over.

Tamim Iqbal followed next in the 14th over for a 38-ball 24. In his role of batting deep into the innings, sedate starts are nothing new for Bangladesh's highest run-scorer, but the experienced campaigner was worked over by Kiwi speedster Lockie Ferguson. The right-arm pacer bowled two bouncers -- the first one a wide down the leg side -- that Tamim ducked under, but responded to the third successive bouncer by trying to hook when out of position and, hurried by pace, was caught off the top edge by mid on.

Mushfiqur and Shakib Al Hasan started slowly as the Kiwis kept bowling in good areas, denying the two players any width. Shakib however, manufactured runs in his own way after scoring just 18 runs off his first 36 deliveries, Shakib hit Jimmy Neesham for three successive boundaries -- one searing pull in front of square and two slashed drives behind point -- to break the shackles.

But, just after bringing up the 50-run stand, the momentum was immediately surrendered when he responded to a call for a quick single from Mushfiqur in the next over and then changed his mind, and Mushfiqur was caught well short of his ground while trying to get back. Shakib was the only batsman who proved capable of coping with New Zealand's discipline and excellence on the field, as he kept accelerating through well-placed singles and the odd boundary, bringing up his 44th ODI half-century off just 54 balls.

Mohammad Mithun impressed briefly, especially with an authoritatively pulled one-bounce four off Ferguson, but Shakib's dismissal and Mahmudullah Riyad's crawl eventually piled on too much pressure and the right-hander was out at exactly the wrong time -- in the 38th over with the score on 179 for four, top-edging a pull off Matt Henry. Mahmudullah was then on 10 off 24 balls.

New Zealand were particularly effective in mixing up the pace and denying the experienced batsman any opportunity to get into a pattern, and Mahmudullah's inability to get going was a factor in getting 56 runs in the last 9.2 overs for the loss of two wickets. He eventually succumbed to a release shot, getting caught at cover off Mitchell Santner for a woeful 41-ball 20 in the 43rd over.

Mosaddek was similarly slow in scoring 11 off 22 balls before holing out to long on off Trent Boult to leave the score at 224 for seven in the 47th over. Boult had Mehedi Hasan Miraz caught behind in his next over, before Henry got rid of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Mohammad Saifuddin in successive balls to tie the knot on a perfect bowling performance, where no one other than Neesham went for more than 5.03 runs an over.