If New Zealand's 10-wicket dominating win against Sri Lanka was considered as a comfortable win for the Black Caps, they would have considered themselves lucky to get across the line against an increasingly impressive Bangladesh unit.
Bangladesh, having recorded a 21-run win against South Africa in their opening game came into the contest against New Zealand with a whole lot of confidence and were expectedly set to provide a fight to the Kiwis.
Bangladesh was put into bat by Kane Williamson in seaming conditions and the move worked as New Zealand's bowlers did not permit the Bangladeshi batsmen to score freely. In addition, loss of wickets at regular intervals did not help Bangladesh's cause. The middle order batsmen did get decent starts but failed to convert them into big scores.
Shakib Al Hasan's half century was the big prominent score from Bangladesh's innings as his 68-ball 64 took his team to 244 from 49.2 overs. Set a modest target of 245, New Zealand's chase started positively, with Martin Guptill and Colin Munro putting up 35 for the opening stand.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor stitched an important 105-run partnership before New Zealand fell to 191-5 from 38.3 overs with both batsmen back to the hut and the lower middle order in the middle. A few overs later, Colin de Grandhomme and James Neesham fell in quick succession as now New Zealand needed 25 runs with three wickets in hand.
However, Mitchell Santner ensured that his team got across the line in the end to register a two-wicket win, as New Zealand continued their positive start to the tournament while Bangladesh could take away a few positives from the game.
Here are some interesting numbers from the game
0 – After 61 players making their World Cup debut in the first eight matches, there were no debutants in this match.
2 – New Zealand became the only team in the ongoing World Cup to win two matches back-to-back.
14 - Kennington Oval hosted its 14th World Cup match, going past Trent Bridge's record of hosting the most number of World Cup matches.
50 - Lockie Ferguson reached the 50-wicket milestone in his ODI career when he removed Tamim Iqbal.
150 - Trent Boult's 2/44 saw him cross the 150-wicket mark in his ODI career.
200 – Shakib Al Hasan played in his 200th ODI, making him the third Bangladesh player behind Mashrafe Mortaza and Mushfiqur Rahim to reach the landmark figure.
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