New Zealand Storms Into Champions Trophy Semifinals After Defeating Bangladesh

New Zealand won against Bangladesh in the sixth match of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy held at Rawalpindi cricket stadium. The New Zelanders had no problem chasing the target of 237 with the aid of a phenomenal century from Rachin Ravindra. New Zelanders secured the game with five wickets and 23 balls remaining. Being on the winning side, Michael Bracewell was awarded player of the match for claiming four wickets with the ball and conceeded only 26 runs after the Kiwis lost the toss.

This win also means New Zeland booked a seat next to India in the semifinal leaving outbacked Pakistan and Bangladesh. Alongside India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, New Zelanders became the fans of BlackCaps. They make it to the knockouts for the first time in 16 years. From the last four rounds of Champions Trophies, New Zeland exited in the group stages of 2013 and 2017.

Prior to the tournament, New Zealenders participated in the tri series with South Africa and Pakistan. They also happened to be the only side to host a lot of bilateral series which enabled them to gain further insight into the conditions unlike the other stakeholders, including the host country.

After losing three wickets for around 70 runs in Karachi, they managed to defeat Pakistan in the opening match. Both Tom Latham and Will Young did their best by scoring magnificent centuries, which helped them reach a staggering total of 320 runs. Pakistan couldn't do anything with the bat as Kiwis kept applying pressure on them.

New Zealand faced Bangladesh without changing anything from their last game. They lost the toss again, and this time they were also not able to step up on the first wicket, giving away an opener stand worth 45 runs. For the Kiwis, Michael Bracewell was the hero during this game, picking up four wickets for just 26 runs in his 10 over spell. The Santner led side chased a total of 237 runs with Ravindra scoring his first hundred in the champions trophy, but the score was looking grim when the team was at 15/2.

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