Sophie Divine, the New Zealand captain, made the right choice by batting first, but she and her batting unit were under the pump with Bangladesh spinners calling the shots until Brook Halliday the middle order Klwi striker turned things around.
She joined Sophie Divine with the white ferns in trouble on 3 for 38 at the end of the power play overs.
In the situation, Brook and Sophie Divine had to play percentage cricket against a good Bangladesh spin cordon consisting of Rubaya Khan 3 for 30 and Fatima Khatom 1 scalp for 37, hence it was a 20 over torment for the duo.
The pair stitched a 112 partnership for the 4th wicket, when Brook’s long vigil of playing 104 deliveries for her 69 driven by 5 boundaries and a maximum, ended in the 39th over with Kiwis on 150 for 4 wickets. It was to be the defining Player of the Match reward.
For Sophie Divine, it was a testing time in the middle she just could not find her timing, played too many dot balls, had an attack of low sugar syndrome, and was batting under stress, but her ultimate 63 off 85 deliveries with 2 boundaries and sixes each, and was the backbone of holding the innings together. New Zealand in trouble at 179 for 5 wickets .
Bangladesh has a batting lineup that can chase around a 200 plus target, but their ambition of restricting the Kiwis to less than 200 fell apart as Maddy Green thumped a run a ball 25 at the back end taking 16 runs off Mufara in the 49th over as New Zealand reached 227 for 9 which looked a defendable target against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was disappointing in their chase and lost the top order 5 dismissed for single digit scores.
Fatima Khatom and Rubaya Khan brought respectability to their team total of 127 with Fatima making 34 and Rubaya 25.
The Kiwis showed a vast improvement and intent in this game because it was a must win for them in keeping their hopes alive to qualify for the top 4 slots.
Jess Kerr 3 for 21 and Lea Tabhu 3 for 22 were impressive, in the Kiwis bowling cordon.
New Zealand 227 for 9 (Halliday 69, Devine 63, Rabeya 3-30) beat Bangladesh 127 (Fahima 34, Jess Kerr 3-21, Tahuhu 3-22) by 100 runs