ICC World Cup 2023: Kane back with a bang

New Zealand’s captain Kane Williamson (right) and teammate Daryl Mitchell during their 108-run stand against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai yesterday. Pic/PTI

Kane Williamson marked his return to international cricket with an elegant half-century while Daryl Mitchell blazed away to a 67-ball 89 as New Zealand crushed Bangladesh by eight wickets in the ICC World Cup here on Friday. This was the Kiwis's third win in as many matches, completing the chase of 246 with plenty to spare.

Playing in his first match of the ongoing showpiece after finally recovering fully from the knee injury he had sustained during the IPL in April and the ensuing surgery, Williamson showed his class with an old-fashioned calculative ODI batting that fetched him 78 runs from 107 balls.

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At the other end, Daryl Mitchell looked in a hurry as he smashed fours and sixes at will to seal the issue in his team's favour with 43 balls left. Having found two good-looking boundaries at the start of his innings, Williamson decorated his knock with eight fours and a six, while Mitchell hammered six fours and four sixes during his breezy, unbeaten stay in the middle.

Bangladesh end at 245-9

Restricted to 245 for nine after being asked to bat first, Bangladesh bowlers had no answer to the Kiwi response but they did a few things wrong, including their skipper and biggest weapon with the ball Shakib al Hasan completing his quota of overs instead of keeping them for the end overs.

The New Zealand dressing room, however, was not happy to see an exhausted Williamson walking back retired hurt after attempting a flashy drive. This was after he had taken a blow to his left thumb. New Zealand, by then, had done enough to ensure victory.

Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 66 as Bangladesh battled hard in the face of New Zealand's disciplined bowling effort to post 245 for nine. Mushfiqur's 75-ball knock, alongside valuable contributions from Shakib (40 off 51 balls) and Mahmudullah (41 not out off 49), lifted Bangladesh after they were reeling at 56 for four in the 13th over.

The Tigers began on a disastrous note, losing Litton Das (0) off the very first delivery of the game to pacer Trent Boult, as his attempted flick was collected by Matt Henry in fine leg.

Ferguson picks Hasan

Tanzid Hasan (16 ) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (30) tried to put up some resistance before the former fell prey to pacer Lockie Ferguson, offering a catch to Devon Conway in square leg.

Notably, Tanzid was dropped when he was yet to open his account by Tom Latham in the opening over itself. It was a tough chance, nonetheless. When the score read 56, Bangladesh lost Miraz to Ferguson, followed by Najmul Hossain Shanto (7) to spinner Glenn Phillips.

Brief scores
Bangladesh 245-9 in 50 overs (M Rahim 66, Mahmudullah 41',S Hasan 40, M Miraz 30; L Ferguson 3-49, T Boult 2-45, M Henry 2-58) lost to New Zealand 248-2 in 42.5 overs (D Mitchell 89', K Williamson 78 (retd), D Conway 45; M Rahman 1-36, S Hasan 1-54) by 8 wickets

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