United News of Bangladesh

New Zealand secured a comfortable five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, knocking them and Pakistan out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Rachin Ravindra starred with a match-winning 112 off 105 balls, ensuring New Zealand chased down 237 with 23 balls to spare. Bangladesh, in a must-win encounter, batted first and posted 236 for 9. Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with 77 off 110, but the batting unit struggled for momentum. Jaker Ali (45 off 55) and Rishad Hossain (26 off 25) provided late resistance, but Michael Bracewell’s 4 for 26 restricted Bangladesh to a below-par total. Michael Bracewell bagged four wickets for 26 runs for New Zealand. “Awesome to contribute to a win. Main focus today was to win and get the semi-final spot,” Bracewell said after the match. New Zealand’s chase got off to a shaky start as Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana struck early, removing Will Young and Kane Williamson cheaply. Bangladesh may play Mahmudullah in must-win clash vs New Zealand The inclusion of Nahid, with his extra pace, clearly added an extra dimension to Bangladesh's attack that was sorely missing in the opener against India, for which he was bewilderingly dropped. But Ravindra anchored the innings with a fluent century, putting together a 129-run fourth-wicket stand with Tom Latham (55 off 76) to take the game away from Bangladesh. Ravindra’s innings, with 12 fours and a six, was ended by Rishad Hossain, but by then, New Zealand were well in control. Glenn Phillips (21*) and Michael Bracewell (11*) completed the formalities with ease. With this win, New Zealand qualified for the semis, while Bangladesh’s bid for the next phase ended with back-to-back defeats. Bangladesh and Pakistan will now face each other their final game of the event on February 27th.