NZ-W vs BAN-W

After dishing out one thriller post the other over the last week, today the Women's World Cup decided to give us a one-sided contest. Unlike Australia, South Africa and England in their respective last matches, Bangladesh couldn't quite forge a comeback after being put under the pump and the game meandered to a foregone conclusion.

With that, New Zealand have finally got some points against their name and climbed up to the fifth spot on the table. Will this prove to be the turning point of their campaign? We will know soon.

For now it is time for us to say goodbye. Do join us tomorrow for Sri Lanka vs England. This is the commentary duo of Darpan and Pradeep signing off. 

Sophie Devine (New Zealand captain): "Very pleasing to finally get on the board. Not the prettiest innings from Brooke and I, but sometimes you have to do it the ugly way. I tried to get as much sugar as I could with coke, lollies and jellybeans. That is one of the challenges of these conditions. (On Rosemary Mair) What she showed with the ball was what we were missing. She was outstanding. Then, Lea Tahuhu was fantastic. So nice to have a win for her 100th ODI. I think the first game against Australia, we were pretty good in some places. Against South Africa not so much. So, we had to gather some momentum today. You saw what Bangladesh did against England. Also with a bit of weather around, every point here is like gold."

Nigar Sultana [Bangladesh captain]: "Whatever we have done in the last game, we wanted to repeat the positive things here. We're not consistent as a batting unit. When you are chasing something like 227, you needed a good start. We bowled well at the start, but we expected a lot from Marufa, but we didn't get it. But, the spinners pulled things back. Until 30th over, we were in control but let them off the hook as they scored more boundaries. We talked about bowling in the right areas, no freebies as they're very experienced. We kept it simple, executed our plans. White Ferns played their best today and it was tough for us. There's a lot to learn from the other teams, the lower middle order has got runs for them and for us too, we need to learn from them and how to get going in the middle with the required run-rate. We just get to play the top teams in ICC tournaments, otherwise, not much and we lack that experience. It was impressive bowling today, hoping they will do the same thing in the next game. We should rectify the mistakes with the bat in the next game."

Brooke Halliday is the Player of the Match! Here's what she has to say: "Biggest thing in the last couple of matches. Last game been ok, we thought to bat and try long, till 40th over and take it from there with Sophie at the other end. We've had a lot of net bowlers of how the opposition had, that helped. Sweeps shots something that practiced a lot in Chennai, got out a couple of times, but it's one of my go to shot. It's easy to bat with Sophie, it wasn't easy to bat out there. Mental and physical was kind of exhausting. Sophie was clear about what needed to be done in the middle. We kept it simple with the ball, Jess, Lea and Kerr been Kerr, they got the job done for us with the ball."

9:43 PM IST: New Zealand win by 100 runs.

Brooke Halliday 69 (104) | Jess Kerr 3/21 (8)
Fahima Khatun 34 (80) & 1/37 (9) | Rabeya Khan 25 (39) & 3/30 (10)

After successive days of thrilling rollercoaster-like rides, today the Women's World Cup dished out a sluggish contest. It felt like a race between two rusty broken-down cars — one clearly in better condition than the other. In the end, White Ferns win it comfortably. Though, the delay in cleaning up the tail might be something they rue eventually. Remember, net run rate could very well come into play at the business end of the tournament.

With the bat in hand, Sophie Devine had another outing of note. Yes, one could point out the number of dot balls she faced, but her 63 were of prime significance in this contest. As were the runs scored by Brooke Halliday. Together, the duo put on a 112-run partnership for the 4th wicket, ensuring that they put up a defendable total on the board. 

Bangladesh spun a web around them and kept the scoring rate in check, but could not prevent the opposition from getting over 200. Rabeya Khan starred with 3/30.

But eventually, NZ's 227 proved to be more than enough. The Bangladesh batters failed to gather any momentum whatsoever. Most of the top order appeared tentative against the swinging new ball and ultimately crumbled. Jess Kerr and Rosemary Mair both delivered the goods up top. The resistance shown by Fahima Khatun and Rabeya Khan only delayed the inevitable.

39.5 Eden Carson to Fahima Khatun, OUT! STRAIGHT UP IN THE AIR AND TAKEN! White Ferns thump Bangladesh by exactly 100 runs and pick up their first win of the World Cup. Fahima skips down the wicket, has a hack across the line and skied it. Plimmer in action again at extra-cover, running back takes a sitter

39.4 Eden Carson to Marufa Akter, floated too full outside the off-stump. Marufa leans to drive and misses. Gaze can't collect, they get a bye.

38.4 Lea Tahuhu to Nishita Akter Nishi, BOWLED! Good length ball that shaped like an outswinger, but rather nipped inwards after pitching. Nishita's feet went nowhere and the ball sneaked through the gap between the bat and ball. 

38.2 Lea Tahuhu to Nishita Akter Nishi, FLICKED FOR FOUR! Tahuhu probably went searching for the yorker — ended up bowling a low full toss at the pads. Nishita pierced the gap between deep backward square leg and deep midwicket.