Sawt Falasteen - Blundell 50 guides New Zealand to 254 against Bangladesh

Blundell, who smashed six fours and a six in his second ODI half-century, helped New Zealand recover from 36-3 after stand-in captain Lockie Ferguson won the toss and opted to bat.

Henry Nicholls chipped in with 49 runs as the pair added 95 runs for the fourth wicket to steady the New Zealand innings.

Bangladesh seized the early momentum in overcast conditions thanks to left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who dismissed openers Will Young for a duck and Finn Allen for 12.

Debutant Khaled Ahmed forced Chad Bowes (14) to edge a catch at square leg to Towhid Hridoy for his maiden wicket.

Khaled also broke the partnership between Blundell and Nicholls as the latter nicked a catch behind the stumps.

Right-arm pacer Hasan Mahmud, who was included in the side as a late replacement for Tanzim Hasan, uprooted the off-stump of Blundell four overs later.

But Ish Sodhi (35), Cole McConchie (20) and Kyle Jamieson (20) all made decent scores down the order to take New Zealand's tally past the 250-run mark before they were all out in 49.2 overs.

Sodhi was Mankaded by Hasan on 17, but Bangladesh captain Liton Das withdrew the appeal as the Kiwi was walking back to the pavilion.

Off-spinner Mahedi and pacer Khaled claimed 3-45 and 3-60 for Bangladesh, respectively.

The Kiwis are looking to win their first ODI series in Bangladesh in 15 years, having lost all seven matches to the hosts in the last two series in 2010 and 2013.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST