||CF Correspondent||

Sabbir Rahman’s maiden ODI century went in vain as New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 88 runs to secure a 3-0 series whitewash in the final one-day international at Dunedin's University Oval on Wednesday.

Despite Sabbir Rahman's battling century, the tourists fell well short of the 331-run target set by the Kiwis as the visitors top-order continued their struggle in the series so far and it seemed gave up the chase midway into the innings when they lost their fifth wicket - Mahmudullah at 61, inside 15 overs.

Tim Southee was the wrecker in chief with his standout New Zealand bowler, taking six for 65 to help the host extend their unbeaten New Zealand extend their unbeaten record across all formats at the Dunedin Oval that also prevented their opponent to taste their maiden victory in this Antipodean nation.

Bangladesh were the worst possible start as they were reduced to 2-3 before Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah resisted further calamities for a brief period though both failed to come up with any kind of rescue act.

Sabbir along with Mohammad Saifuddin (44) added 101 for the sixth wicket stand to provide necessary support to take the score to some sort of respectability before Trent Boult broke the partnership by removing the latter.

Sabbir scored 102 runs from 110 balls with 12 fours and two sixes to provide an answer to the critics as well as pay back national skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza for keeping trust on his ability to an extent that BCB was forced to reduce his ban. Put into bat, New Zealand didn't get off to a power-start as they had accustomed themselves to so far in the series.

 Colin Munro wasted yet another opportunity to make a case in a regular XI as he was trapped leg-before in the fifth over of the innings by Mashrafe Mortaza, whose delivery darted back of the seam to catch the southpaw plumb in front.

Martin Guptill, meanwhile, had started well, continuing the form that had helped him bag Player of the Match awards in the first two games of the series. However, six dot deliveries out of eight by Mortaza and Mohammad Saifuddin had slowed down Guptill's onslaught for a brief while.

However, the frustration got to him too early as he desperately tried to hit the latter out of the ground, only to have himself caught by a superb effort from Tamim Iqbal in the deep.

There was everything that batsmen would've wanted early on in the pitch - short boundaries, an easy-paced wicket and a less-than-threatening new ball attack. And yet, with the hosts reduced to 56 for 2, Henry Nicholls and Taylor curbed the temptation to hit the big shots.

They worked the ball around, plucked singles and twos, and at times, found gaps to score boundaries. There was negligible effort to hit over the in-field or counter aggressively. It made for poor entertainment but as the alliance grew over 50 runs, it was proving to be mighty effective.

It was only after Nicholls brought up his fifty - 8th in ODIs - that the duo decided to shift a gear higher. In a brief period of play between Over 25 to 28, they stroked five boundaries. It also included a cut from Taylor past point which helped him reach 43 and become the second New Zealander to register 8000 ODI runs.

Bangladeshi batsmen failed to learn the lesson from their counterpart on how to go after their batting in the middle in a relatively easy batting wicket. New Zealand acting skipper Tom Latham said that he is proud of the achievement as they did that with utmost precision.

“Probably couldn't have asked any better. We managed a few partnerships in the middle and we had a bit of fun towards the end. We got a good squad of players and to see Tim come back and bowl at a good pace and swing the ball was very refreshing,’’ said Latham.

“We are doing alright in all departments and the challenge for us is to keep getting better each time the bowlers take wickets upfront and the challenge for us also through the middle periods where we want to take wickets. We are always trying to learn and this series is no different,’’ he said.