‘Nice of Liton for calling me back'

New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi lauded Bangladesh skipper Liton Das for calling him back after Tigers pacer Mankaded him in the first innings of the second ODI of the three-match series between the two sides at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday. 

Ish Sodhi played a pivotal role with bat and ball as New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 86 runs. The win gave the Blackcaps their first win against the Tigers away in Bangladesh since 2008, during a span in which they lost on all seven meetings in the Tiger's den.

Sodhi came out to bat in the 34th over of the first innings when New Zealand were struggling at 166 for six having just lost set batter Tom Blundell. 

Sodhi batted till the last over and was the last wicket to go but events became interesting before that, midway in the 46th over precisely. Pacer Hasan Mahmud took the bails off the stumps at the non-striker's end after reaching the end of his run-up having noticed that an eager Sodhi was out of his crease. The Bangladesh team initially appeared to be okay with the dismissal which bemused Sodhi as he applauded in dissent while walking back to the pavilion.

But Liton along with Soumya Sarker were seen talking to umpire Marais Erusmas about calling Sodhi back. Eventually, they agreed on it and the umpire signalled the right-handed batter to come back. He was on 17 when he was dismissed and after that he went on to score 18 more totaling his tally to a 39-ball 35 which became his career-best. 

"Really good day. Coming on the winning side... historically, we haven't done too well. Nice of Litton for calling me back. We thought it would start turning later in the day. Even Ravindra and McConchie got it to spin later. Not every day is like that. This is really a tough place to come and win," Sodhi said in the post-match presentation interview. 

After helping his side to 254 on a tricky wicket, Sodhi seemed to have saved his best for later as he picked up his maiden five-wicket haul scalping six wickets for 39 runs to sink Bangladesh. 

New Zealand take on Bangladesh in the third and final ODI on September 26 at the same venue before the teams embark on their World Cup mission.