New Zealand gave themselves a perfect boost ahead of the World Cup by whitewashing Bangladesh in the three-match series 2-0, with a seven wickets win in the final one-day international in Dhaka on Tuesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Will Young and Adam Milne starred with bat and ball respectively, with Young hitting 70 off 80 balls to guide New Zealand to 175-3.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Milne's 4-34 restricted the hosts to 171 in 34.3 overs at Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto scored highest with 76 runs for Bangladesh, but was unable to give the hosts a competitive score with a lack of support from the other end after he opted to bat first.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
New Zealand made light of their target despite losing Finn Allen (28) and Dean Foxcroft (0) to Shoriful Islam in consecutive balls, as Young put on 81 runs with in-form Henry Nicholls for the third wicket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
By the time left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed bowled Young, New Zealand were well in control.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Nicholls, who made 44 and 49 runs in the previous two matches, went on to complete 50 this time, with a single off Mahmudullah Riyad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tom Blundell (23 not out) hit a boundary to take New Zealand home, with 91 balls to spare.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cole McConchie and Trent Boult earlier complemented Milne, who was playing his first match of the series, claiming 2-18 and 2-33 respectively to deny Bangladesh any serious momentum in the contest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Kiwis, who lost the previous two series in Bangladesh 4-0 in 2010 and 3-0 in 2013, won the second match by 86 runs on Saturday. The first match was washed out by rain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The World Cup is just around the corner -- to come up with the first win since 2008 is great," said Young, the man of the match, in a briefing afterwards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"This group plays a lot together, we gel well and it's a lot of fun," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Young said that while he could not predict what conditions the Kiwis would face in India when the World Cup opens on October 5, he hoped "it's similar to these".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bangladesh initially rested key players but, with the series at stake, they brought back stalwarts Najmul, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shoriful Islam. However, it did little to improve their performance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Najmul, leading Bangladesh for the first time, held down one end to score his fifth ODI fifty but wickets kept falling regularly from the other end.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Our batsmen didn't score big runs," Najmul said. "Hopefully, next time batters take responsibility and bat long."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Milne and Boult struck early to reduce Bangladesh to 35-3, before Najmul and Mushfiqur offered a brief resistance with a 53-run fourth wicket stand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Mushfiqur's dismissal to Lockie Ferguson for 18 put New Zealand back on top and the visitors did not lose the momentum again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n