Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam claimed 4-40 to rip through New Zealand's batting lineup as Bangladesh closed in on a victory in the series-opening test on Friday. New Zealand was reduced to 113-7 at stumps on day 4, chasing a victory target of 332. Daryl Mitchell batted patiently to end the day on 44, with Ish Sodhi on 7. Opener Devon Conway was the only other batter to put up resistance with 22. "We need this victory badly because when you will beat a big team like New Zealand, it will give you the confidence," Taijul said. "We won't say we've won the game until we grab the last wicket." Sylhet Test: Quick wickets daunt New Zealand’s chase for 332 Pacer Shoriful Islam extended Tom Latham's lean patch with a six-ball duck in the first over, and Kane Williamson failed to build on his first-innings century on an increasingly deteriorating wicket. Williamson started with a brace of boundaries against Mehidy Hasan but Taijul troubled him by varying the pace and finally trapped him lbw for 11. Williamson reviewed in vain. Henry Nicholls was the next to go, top-edging a slog-sweep off Mehidy to Nayeem Hasan at short fine leg for 2. Conway was playing with positive intent with wickets falling around him and perfectly swept the spinners to keep the scoreboard moving before Taijul had him caught by Shahadat Hossain at short leg. With New Zealand at 46-4, the onus was on Mitchell but he found little support from the other end. Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell (6) was stifled by Taijul before edging a turning delivery behind, and Nayeem pegged back the visitors further with a successful review to remove Glenn Phillips. Sylhet Test: Bangladesh set 332-run target for New Zealand When Taijul got the better of Kyle Jamieson for 7, Bangladesh looked like they could wrap up the win on day four. But Mitchell and Sodhi survived a tricky 30 minutes before the bad light forced stumps. "It's not a bad wicket. I suppose their bowlers have bowled very disciplined and put the ball in good areas and asked us good questions for long periods of time," New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel said. "A lot of batting to do tomorrow. We've got Dazzler (Mitchell) there who's batted quite nicely today. And we know how capable Ish (Sodhi) is with the bat as well. I think we pride ourselves to fight all the way through. So, it'll be an interesting day tomorrow." Earlier, Bangladesh was bowled out for 338 in its second innings. Najmul Hossain Shanto added just one run to his overnight score and was out for 105 as Bangladesh lost a succession of wickets. Mehidy Hasan scored 50 not out to help the side take the lead past 300. The hosts started Day 4 on 212-3 but lost Shanto in the second over when Tim Southee had him caught down the leg side, ending a 98-run fourth-wicket stand. Bangladesh's ODI, T20 Squads for tour of New Zealand announced Mushfiqur Rahim continued and raised his 27th test half-century off 79 balls, with an outside-edge two against Southee. But he failed to convert it to a hundred when left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel trapped him in front for 67. Legspinner Ish Sodhi got the better of Shahadat Hossain (18) to expose Bangladesh's lower order, which failed to play around Mehidy. Bangladesh lost the last three wickets for 27 runs but that was enough to set a tough target for New Zealand. The home side was dismissed for 310 in its first innings and conceded 7-run lead when New Zealand put up 317 all out.

New Zealand completed a 3-0 sweep of the three-match series against Bangladesh Friday after winning the third ODI by 164 runs. Maiden centuries of Devon Conway and all-rounder Daryl Mitchell lifted New Zealand to the victory. The Kiwis won the toss and chose to bat first. They made 318 runs as Conway scored 126, and shared a 159-run partnership with all-rounder Mitchell. Also read: Ross Taylor to play the final ODI vs Bangladesh The all-rounder, whose previous highest ODI score was 12 runs, took 17 runs from the 50th over to complete his 100 in 92 balls. In reply, Bangladesh were bundled out for 154 despite an unbeaten 73-ball 76 of Mahmudullah Riyad. Matt Henry ripped through the Bangladesh top order, taking 3-13 from his first four overs. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal departed early while chasing a huge target, forcing the visitors to go for a defensive game plan. But it proved to be a bad idea for them as Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das also fell to Henry in quick succession. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun played 69 balls together, Bangladesh's biggest partnership in terms of facing most balls, but failed to put any pressure on the hosts' bowling lineup. The Tigers lost seven wickets before posting 100 runs on the board. But Mahmudullah put his best foot forward to offer some resistance which lasted till the removal of Mustafizur Rahman as the last wicket from a fine delivery off James Neesham. Also read: Sloppy fielding costs Bangladesh series to New Zealand Neesham registered returned his career-best ODI figure of 5-27 for New Zealand. Henry took four wickets conceding 27 runs in 10 overs and the remaining wicket went to Kyle Jamieson. Earlier, the visitors failed to find a good rhythm in bowling as Mustafizur struggled throughout the innings to get some movement or swing. The other bowlers also remained clueless in one of the biggest cricket grounds of New Zealand. Mustafizur gave away 87 runs in 10 overs – taking only one wicket – his second-worst bowling in ODIs. Bangladesh got the first breakthrough when Taskin Ahmed removed Henry Nicholls for 18. Next, Rubel Hossain dismissed Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor in quick succession. But New Zealand captain Tom Latham and Conway added 63 runs in the fourth wicket stand and repaired the early damage. Soumya Sarkar broke the partnership by removing Latham.  The visitors were in control of the game as the hosts lost four wickets for 120 runs. But Conway and Mitchell added 159 runs in the fifth wicket stand, enabling New Zealand to pass the 300-run mark. In the last 10 overs, New Zealand added 107 runs, and Mustafizur conceded 43 of those runs. He gave away 21 runs in the last overs.   Eventually, Bangladesh failed to chase down a huge target of 319 and lost the game by 164 runs, which is their first defeat by a margin of 150 runs or more after 2017. Bangladesh's last defeat by a margin of 150 runs or more before this game came against South Africa in 2017. With a clean sweep over the Tigers, the hosts grabbed a full 30 points in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League series. Earlier, they had registered two convincing victories in the first two games in Dunedin and Christchurch. The Tigers will now face the hosts in a three-match T20 series – slated to start on March 28 in Hamilton. The last two games of the series will be played on March 30 and April 1 in Napier and Auckland. Also read: Bangladesh vs New Zealand T20 Series 2021: Who can replace Tamim in the opening slot?