DHAKA, Oct 11: All-rounder Jacob Oram shone with both bat and ball to help New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 75 runs in the second One-day International here on Saturday and level the three-match series 1-1.

The dashing left-hander hit an undefeated 62-ball 75 to lift New Zealand to a fighting 212-9 in their 50 overs before taking 2-23 to dismiss the home team for 137 in 42.4 overs.

New Zealand lost a One-day International against Bangladesh for the first time when they went down in the first match by seven wickets here on Thursday, so skipper Daniel Vettori said Saturday’s win was a big relief.

“Now it’s the final match we focus on. The batsmen were still disappointing and even after reaching 212 we were a bit nervous,” he said.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was left disappointed.

“We should have scored 25 more runs in the first 20 overs, but that was not easy because the ball was not coming onto the bat. It is now do or die in the final match,” said Ashraful of the series-decider at Chittagong on Tuesday.

Bangladesh’s hopes for a repeat of their stunning earlier win were dashed as they lost wickets at regular intervals after losing opener Tamim Iqbal off the second ball of the innings.

Skipper Ashraful (40) and Junaed Siddique (32) were the main run-getters.

Tamim was one of Kyle Mills’ three victims as the paceman checked Bangladesh’s run-chase from the outset. Mills finished with 3-13.

Junaed, who hit a match-winning 85 on Thursday, then added 53 for the third wicket with Ashraful before New Zealand bowled and fielded well to spark a middle-order collapse which saw the home team lose eight wickets for 66 runs.

Oram dismissed a dangerous looking Ashraful to seal the fate of the match.

New Zealand fielders also effected three run-outs.

Earlier, it was Oram who helped New Zealand avoid another low total with a pugnacious knock.

He struck five fours and four sixes during his knock and helped New Zealand edge past their lowest total of 201-9 against Bangladesh in the first match.

Oram was particularly brutal in the final over of the innings, smashing three sixes and a four off left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who conceded 25 runs.

The lanky 30-year-old added 41 for the eighth wicket with Mills (17) and an invaluable 45 for the final wicket with Jeetan Patel, who managed four not out.

The only other significant contributions came from Ross Taylor (33) and Jesse Ryder (30) as left-arm paceman Syed Rasel wrecked the top-order with 3-32.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

J.D. Ryder c and b Rasel 30

B.B. McCullum c Junaed b Rasel 12

J.M. How c Ashraful b Rasel 0

L.R.P.L. Taylor c Junaed b Shakib 33

S.B. Styris c Junaed b Mashrafe 0

D.R. Flynn b Naeem 25

J.D.P. Oram not out 75

D.L. Vettori c and b Naeem 1

K.D. Mills b Shakib 17

T.G. Southee run out 0

J.S. Patel not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-12, W-2, NB-1) 15

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 212

FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-43, 3-44, 4-45, 5-86, 6-112, 7-115, 8-156, 9-167.

BOWLING: Mashrafe Mortaza 10-1-29-1; Syed Rasel 10-4-23-3 (1nb); Abdur Razzak 10-0-67-0; Shahadat Hossain 7-0-41-0 (1w); Shakib Al Hasan 9-0-20-2 (1w); Naeem Islam 4-0-20-2.

BANGLADESH:

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Mills 0

Junaed Siddique c Vettori b Southee 32

Mushfiqur Rahim b Mills 11

M. Ashraful c McCullum b Oram 40

Shakib Al Hasan c Oram b Vettori 10

Naeem Islam run out 0

Mahmudullah run out 8

Mashrafe Mortaza c Oram b Mills 27

Abdur Razzak b Oram 3

Shahadat Hossain run out 0

Syed Rasel not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1) 6

TOTAL (all out, 42.4 overs) 137

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-18, 3-71, 4-86, 5-86,

6-106, 7-111, 8-115, 9-132.

BOWLING: Mills 6.4-3-13-3; Southee 9-0-33-1; Oram 8-2-23-2 (1w); Styris 6-0-23-0; Patel 4-0-15-0; Vettori 9-0-25-1.

RESULT: New Zealand won by 75 runs.

UMPIRES: Nadir Shah (Bangladesh) and D.J. Harper (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: Akhtaruddin Shaheen.

MATCH REFEREE: J. Srinath (India).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Jacob Oram.—AFP