Bangladesh vs New Zealand Match Report
The Kiwis triumphed this time by five wickets, chasing down 236 for 9 in a match which ebbed and flowed into New Zealand’s favor without further ado. On a cloudy day, the New Zealand captain, Mitchell Santner, called correctly and elected to bowl first. Until a resolute innings by the lower order pushed Bangladesh to a competitive total, his decision paid dividends early, as his bowlers put Bangladesh on the back foot.
Bangladesh had a fiery start, with opener Tanzid Hasan going hard at the Kiwi bowlers. He was at 24 off 24 deliveries, with a crisp strike rate of 100, including four boundaries, before Michael Bracewell struck in the eighth over, with him caught by Kane Williamson.
The score read 45 for 1, and Bangladesh looked poised to build a solid platform. It would later shift, however, when Mehidy Hasan Miraz, promoted up the order, scored a meager 13 off just 14 balls before being out to William O’Rourke, with the score now at 64 for 2 after 12 overs. With a stoic 77 off 109 balls enriched with ten 4s, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto led by example, holding the innings together while he scrambled to keep his team afloat.
At the same time, the middle order failed to convert good starts into significant scores. Towhid Hridoy made only 7 runs off 24 balls before he too was out, caught by Williamson from the bowling of Bracewell, while Mushfiqur Rahim, the aging wicketkeeper, scratched around for 2 runs out of 5 deliveries before edging one off Bracewell to Rachin Ravindra.
After a painfully slow innings by Mahmudullah ended at 4 runs off 14 deliveries, in the 26th over, Bangladesh had been reduced to 118 for 5 by another Bracewell grabbing. At this point, the men from Ki, with Bracewell’s construction of exceptional 10-0-26-4, had starved the scoring rate while complementing the disciplined lines bowled by pacers Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, and O’Rourke.
An important recovery was engineered by Shanto and Jaker Ali, who added 45 crucial runs for the sixth wicket. Jaker especially displayed grit, contributing 45 runs off 55 balls, striking three fours before being run out by a brilliant pick-up and throw from Tom Latham. Shanto’s resistance ended at 163 for the sixth wicket when O’Rourke’s bowling sent him packing in the 37th over, and Rishad Hossain contributed with a handy 26 off just 25 balls, inclusive of two fours and a six, to give the innings a final push.
Taskin Ahmed added 10 off 20 balls, but just when he was beginning to find his touch and was taken out by Jamieson in the 49th over, Bangladesh ended at 236 for 9. Mustafizur Rahman remained unbeaten on 3, with a very heavy 25 by extras—notably contributed largely by wides that amounted to 22—a treatural and obvious criticism of New Zealand’s bowling performance.
Chasing 237, the Black Caps stumbled early in the very first over as opener Will Young—fresh off a match-winning ton against Pakistan—was sent back for a duck by Taskin Ahmed. Kane Williamson, at number three in batting order, followed shortly after, caught behind off Nahid Rana with a low score, leaving New Zealand at 15 for 2. The pressure was on and with Bangladesh’s bowlers sensing a chance, there was no doubt someone needed to steady the ship.
Enter Rachin Ravindra, batting at number four—a position unfamiliar to him in ODIs since he usually bats at number three or lower down the order.
The next few hours witnessed the twin beauties of controlled aggression and adaptability. Ravindra, playing his first match in the tournament after recovering from a nasty forehead injury sustained while fielding in a tri-series game in Lahore earlier that month, showed no signs of rust. The 25-year-old had missed New Zealand’s Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan because of the injury, which had left his jersey blood-soaked after he attempted to catch a ball but failed. His return was long awaited, and he didn’t disappoint.
Ravindra began moderately, gauging conditions and a Bangladeshi attack that included wily Mustafizur Rahman and pacey Nahid Rana. He found a great partner in Devon Conway, and the two put on a vital 57-run partnership that got New Zealand back on track. Mustafizur’s clever slower cutter bowled Conway out for 30, and Tom Latham took his place. Ravindra and Latham then built a match-defining partnership, mixing patience with timely aggression to hold New Zealand’s hopes high.
As the innings progressed, Ravindra grew in confidence. His footwork against spin was impeccable, a skill honed from years of playing club cricket in Bangalore, where his family roots lie. He used his feet deftly to counter Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain, flicking and driving with elegance. Against the pacers, he was equally assured, crunching a back-foot cut off Rana through the off-side and sending a full delivery from Taskin racing down the ground. The Rawalpindi crowd, though largely partisan, couldn’t help but appreciate the artistry on display.
The milestone moment arrived in the 37th over when Ravindra, on 98, calmly worked a full delivery from Rishad Hossain down the ground for a couple, raising his bat to acknowledge the applause from his teammates. His century came off just 95 balls, studded with 11 fours and a solitary six—a towering shot over midwicket that underscored his growing dominance. At 25 years and 98 days, he became one of the youngest New Zealanders to score a Champions Trophy hundred, joining an elite list that includes Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle, Kane Williamson, and more recently, Will Young and Tom Latham from this very tournament.
However, Ravindra’s stay at the crease ended shortly after, when he fell for 112, caught by substitute fielder Parvez Hossain Emon off Rishad Hossain while attempting to accelerate. His departure at 201 for 4 left New Zealand needing just 36 runs from over 11 overs, a task made simpler by his monumental effort. Latham, who had anchored the other end with a composed 55 off 76 balls, fell soon after to a brilliant direct hit from Mahmudullah, but by then, the damage was done. Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell knocked off the remaining runs, sealing a comfortable victory with overs to spare and virtually guaranteeing New Zealand’s place in the semi-finals alongside India from Group A.
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The hundred that Ravindra had was not just a match-winning knock; it was an assertion of intent from him. He announced his arrival on the global stage with three centuries in the 2023 ODI World Cup, one of which came on debut against England. In his rapidly expanding resume, Ravindra has also now added a Champions Trophy century.
It is a testimony to his character that he was able to withstand the pressure, shift to a different batting position, and recover from the physical and mental draining of a recent injury throughout the knock. Not only did he hammer Bangladesh’s bowling, but with this hundred, he also wrote his name into New Zealand cricket folklore as the sixth Kiwi batter to score a century in this tournament, with 112 runs from 105 balls at a strike rate of 106.66.
On the part of Bangladesh, the defeat closed any hopes of a hat-trick into the semi-finals; but a consolation of coming so close to getting the better of Ravindra itself means little for them. For New Zealand, another step toward reclaiming glory in a tournament last won by them in 2000, with Ravindra painstakingly growing to be the torchbearer of their batting line-up. As the Champions Trophy progresses, the cricketing world will be keen to see if this Bengaluru-born Kiwi continues his romance with the ICC events, probably in prose of the grand feats of two Indian legends-Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar-who gave him inspiration for his own name.
