Ross Taylor led New Zealand too good for Bangladesh

New Zealand celebrate a Matt Henry wicket versus Bangladesh.

Ross Taylor became the third New Zealander after Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori to play 400 internationals across all formats and celebrated with a match-winning 82 in a nail-biter at The Oval.

It was a see-sawing encounter that was by far the closest game of the tournament so far. But the outcome could have been so much different had Bangladesh wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim was successful in running out Kane Williamson, rather than knocking the bails off with his elbow as he gathered in Tamim Iqbal’s throw from mid-on with Williamson well short of the crease.

It would have sent one of the world’s great batsmen back to the pavilion, and left New Zealand 61/3 in the 12th over with the responsibility of the Kiwi’s hopes falling solely onto Ross Taylor.

Instead, the two combined for a vital 105 run stand, the 13th time these two have combined for a century partnership.

The Black Caps still required the calm head of Mitchell Santner to see them over the line but without Taylor’s contribution they might never have made it past Bangladesh total of 244.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mosaddek Hossain all picked up two wickets each, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the New Zealanders in their quest to reach a second consecutive World Cup final, in the hope of going one better this time around.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh scraped to 244 all out after being asked to bat, with star player Shakib Al Hasan top scoring with 64 off 68, with starts from all of the top order who made double figures, but failed to pass 30 in what must be a frustrating for the Bangladeshi’s.

Matt Henry once again outshone his more fancied team-mates picking up 4 wickets, with Trent Boult grabbing two in what was a dominant display in the field from the Kiwis.

THE STAR

Ross Taylor notched up his 48th ODI half century.

The class of Ross Taylor shone through for the New Zealanders. Taylor had taken charge from the start and rattled to his half-century off 40 balls with a superb array of shots. But even he couldn't see it through and his leg side catch left New Zealand needing 54 off 69 balls, still elementary you would think. Taylor's innings was the difference between victory and defeat for both sides. THE MOMENT AND THE FAILURE

Kane Williamson reaches out for his crease as Mushfiqur Rahim's error proved costly.

The match swung on a massive moment when captain Kane Williamson should have been run out on eight, but Bangladesh gloveman Mushfiqur Rahim botched a simple job. Ross Taylor pushed to deepish mid-on and called Williamson through for a needlessly risky run with the skipper on his heels. He was at least a metre short as Tamim Iqbal's pinpoint return flew in, but Mushfiqur had his gloves inexplicably in front of the stumps and castled the bails before catching the ball. New Zealand could have been 61 for 3 in the 12th over, instead, Williamson and Taylor combined for 105 runs, with the 3rd wicket falling for 160. WHAT NEXT - New Zealand will look to cement their spot ontop of the table with their match against Afghanistan on Saturday, whilst Bangladesh take on hosts England on Saturday. TONIGHT - Australia take on the West Indies from Trent Bridge.