Shanto century, Mustafizur five-for seals series win for Bangladesh

Dean Foxcroft's late charge, during which he put up a fifty-run stand with No. 11 Ben Lister, could not get New Zealand over the line

Mohammad Isam

Published: Apr 23, 2026, 2:17 PM (1 hr ago)

Bangladesh 265 for 8 (Shanto 105, Litton 76, O'Rourke 3-32) beat New Zealand 210 (Foxcroft 75, Kelly 59, Mustafizur 5-43) by 55 runs

Bangladesh clinched their third ODI series in a row, after they beat New Zealand by 55 runs in the third ODI in Chattogram on Thursday. It was a come-from-behind series win, after the hosts lost the first match by 26 runs.

Bangladesh had also won their two previous ODI series - against West Indies in October 2025 and Pakistan last month. This is the first time they have secured three ODI series wins in a row, since their string of five ODI series wins across 2021 and 2022.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mustafizur Rahman had central roles to play and broke long-barren spells without milestones. Shanto reached his first ODI century in two years (and fourth overall), while Mustafizur got his first five-wicket haul in seven years. Litton Das, too, reached a fifty for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Shanto's 105 off 119 balls included nine fours and two sixes, as he and Litton added 160 runs - a fourth-wicket record for Bangladesh against New Zealand. It was a rescue act after Bangladesh slipped to 32 for 3 in the ninth over. Will O'Rourke removed Saif Hassan with a subtle outswinger in the first over, followed by both Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar dragging the ball on to their stumps.

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The fourth-wicket pair were circumspect in the first 12 overs of their partnership, steadily rebuilding the Bangladesh innings. New Zealand made a couple of fielding errors in the 20th over to provide a bit of momentum for the home side. Shanto's boundary, later in the same over, got them to a fifty partnership.

Left-arm seamer Muhammad Abbas dropped Litton on 29, off his own bowling, before Shanto reached back-to-back fifty-plus scores. Shanto had been the aggressor in the partnership as Litton took 60 balls to hit his first boundary. As their partnership reached the three-figure mark, Bangladesh started to have a better grasp of proceedings.

Shanto charged at Nathan Smith couple of times for a six and a four. In between, O'Rourke dropped him at midwicket on 75. Shanto surged towards his fourth ODI century, while Litton struck O'Rourke for two pulled boundaries before falling to Jayden Lennox for 76. After Shanto fell in the 43rd over, Bangladesh slowed down considerably, mainly due to an onset of a long batting tail. Towhid Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz hardly pressed the accelerator during the slog overs and Bangladesh finished with just three fours and a six in the last ten overs.

In their bowling defence, Mustafizur led Bangladesh - like the senior pro he is in this side - despite missing the first two ODIs due to a knee injury. He hurried Henry Nicholls into a pull, caught easily by wicketkeeper Litton, who also pouched Will Young's under edge off Nahid Rana in the 14th over. New Zealand captain Tom Latham fell to his counterpart Miraz in the 17th over, when his sweep caught the top-edge found Shoriful Islam at short fine-leg.

Nick Kelly held on to the other end stoutly, taking 25 balls to find his first boundary. He picked up five more fours and a six to post his second half-century in the ODI series. Then with Kelly looking to get a move on, Mustafizur dismissed him with a cutter, which Kelly tried to reach after having already moved well into the leg-side before the ball arrived. He could only toe-end the ball to Tanzid at cover, having made 59 off 80 balls.

Abbas was the next to go, inside-edging a Shoriful delivery in the 30th over. Abbas made 25 off 36 balls with just one boundary. Rana then bowled a 148.6 kph yorker, which uprooted Josh Clarkson's leg-stump in the 33rd over, before Mehidy took a stunner in the infield when Smith tried to flick the ball past him. Mehidy's full-length dive to his right at short midwicket left Smith stunned.

Hridoy held on to Lennox's full-blooded pull shot at short midwicket to give Mustafizur his fourth, before the left-arm quick blew through O'Rourke for the five-for.

Dean Foxcroft struck seven sixes in a belated charge, as he made 75 off 72 balls. He added 50 runs with No. 11 Ben Lister, who contributed just two runs in the partnership. But his barrage came to an end in the 45th over, the last man dismissed, trying to go down the ground.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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