Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar has
broken legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s 14-year-old record during the
second ODI match against New Zealand in Nelson on Wednesday.
Soumya played a 169-run knock from 151
balls with a strike rate of 111.92. The left-handed batter slammed 22 fours and
2 sixes against the Kiwi bowling attack in the first inning.
The 30-year-old’s knock against New
Zealand helped him to surpass Tendulkar’s milestone for the highest runs in
ODIs by a player from the sub-continent in New Zealand. In 2009, the ‘Master
Blaster’ played an unbeaten 163-run knock against the Kiwis in Christchurch.
He also scored the highest run by a
Bangladesh cricketer in an away ground in the ODI format.
Coming to the match, New Zealand won the
toss and decided to field first at Saxton Oval.
Soumya Sarkar (169 runs from 151 balls)
was the lone standout batter among his teammates as no other players could
cross the 50-run mark in the first inning.
Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim (45 runs
from 57 balls) played a pivotal role in the middle order and helped the ‘Bengal
Tigers’ put 291 on the scoreboard.
On the other hand, Jacob Duffy and
William ORourke led the Kiwi bowling attack after they bagged a three-wicket
haul each in their respective spells. Apart from them Adam Milne, Josh
Clarkson, and Adithya Ashok picked up one wicket each.
In the run chase, New Zealand need to
make 292 runs in 50 overs to register their second consecutive win in the
three-match ODI series.
ANI
