Bangladesh produced a highly appreciable bowling performance, especially in the last 10 overs, to restrict New Zealand for a functional 265 for 8 at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Mashrafe Mortaza and his men did a fabulous job in the must win game and scripted yet another middle order failure for Blackcaps.

Skipper Kane Williamson led the proceedings from the front one more time, hitting a record breaking 57 off just 69 balls. Veteran Ross Taylor was also highly impressive and struck 63 from 82. Thie duo laid a good platform for the middle order to capitalise. However, there was failure following the departure of the pair.

The openers could not convert their starts after a delayed start due to gloomy conditions. The attempt to play with a slightly aggressive approach failed to yield any benefit. Luke Ronchi was the first to depart falling to Taskin Ahmed in the 8^th over after putting up 46 for the opening wicket. A few overs later, Martin Guptill failed to predict the line and saw himself trapped leg before off Rubel Hossain to waste his 33 runs knock.

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor avoided any further damage and stitched a steady 83 runs stand in 17.1 overs between them to take the side to a comfortable position. The pair successfully neutralised the small early advantage which the bowling side gained following the dismissals of the openers.

Williamson gained a couple of records to cherish during his sensible knock. First off, he became the first captain to hit three consecutive fifties in the Champions Trophy history. Today’s half century was also the fourth consecutive for the right-hander having already ended the 2013 season with 67 innings against England.

However, the middle order had a poor outing once again. Williamson was run out in the 30^th over and his dismissal proved to be the turning point. Neil Broom (36 from 42 balls) helped the scoreboard move past the 200 run mark along with Ross Taylor. Luckily for Bangladesh, Taskin Ahmed broke the thriving partnership with the wicket of Taylor in the 39^th over. Things began going downhill from that stage.

The Kiwis were at a comfortable 201/1 at the time Taylor departed. James Neesham (23 from 24 balls) and Broom gave a brief surge to the run rate before the batting side lost all the momentum.