CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH // Ross Taylor hit a century to help New Zealand score 249 for seven from 50 overs in the third and final One Day International against Bangladesh today. Jamie How (73) was the other top scorer for the Black Caps with a half century after the openers Jesse Ryder (3) and Brendon McCullum (6) were out in the first six overs, making the fall of wickets at 2-13. Winning the toss, the New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori opted to bat but the start was shaky as Ryder was bowled by paceman Syed Rasel.
Fellow pace bowler Mashrafe Mortaza and the casual left-hand spinner Shahib Al Hasan claimed two wickets apiece for 50 and 41 runs respectively while Rasel and the left-arm spinners Abdur Razzak and Naeem Islam took one each for 40, 52 and 49 runs. Taylor scored 103 from 119 balls, hitting four towering sixes and five boundaries to post his third ODI century. Taylor was caught while playing a pull shot from Mortaza, as the ball dropped on the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim's gloves high from the sky.
Earlier, How hit his seventh ODI half-century to embolden the visitors, who were shocked at the loss of two early wickets. How played 82 balls with 10 boundaries before he was trapped lbw by spinner Naeem Islam. Vettori and Kyle Mills were not out on 19 and 18 respectively. McCullum was trapped lbw by Mortaza, while Scott Styris (12) suffered the same fate. Shakib removed Jacob Oram (3) when Tamim Iqbal caught him at square-leg.
New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 75 runs in the second match on Saturday to level the three-game series at 1-1. Bangladesh won the opening match by seven wickets in Dhaka. *Reuters
