ICC World Cup 2015: New Zealand continue unbeaten run, Bangladesh will face India in quarter finals

New Zealand, who have remained unbeaten in their 2015 ICC World Cup campaign so far, avoid a near defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in their final group stage fixture on Friday.

The Asian side, who have already qualified for the quarter finals after knocking England out of the World Cup had nothing to lose and came in high on confidence for this match. They managed to score 288 runs for the loss seven wickets in 50 overs.

The co-hosts managed to chase down the total, with Martin Guptil coming to their rescue having scored 105 runs off 100 balls. The Black Caps have managed to maintain their winning streak after reaching 290/7 and won the match by three wickets and seven balls to spare.

Shakib Al Hasan was leading Bangladesh in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza, who has struggled in their last two fixtures.

Earlier, Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to bowl and his plan of using his strike bowlers in the mid-innings to pick up wickets did not work at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Three off his key bowlers, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Daniel Vettori took three wickets, while conceded 149 runs in 30 overs.

Boult picked up two early wickets and gave the start New Zealand needed. Bangladesh were 27/2 in their 10th over. It was Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah who then not only put up a 90-run partnership, but also improved their run rate.

Sarkar was dismissed for 51, while Mahmudullah went on to become the second player in the Tigers' history to score two back-to-back ODI centuries.

Chase down the target, New Zealand also lost two of their key players in McCullum and Kane Williamson cheaply. Guptil and Ross Taylor then amassed 131 between them. Taylor went on to score 56 and Guptil's hundred took away the game from the visitors.

A cameo from Grant Elliott (39) and Corey Anderson (39) lower down the order and an unbeaten knock from Vettori and Southee helped New Zealand win the match by a narrow margin. Guptil was named man of the match for his century.

The result has Bangladesh finish the table at fourth spot and they will now face India in the quarter finals next week. The defending champions need to be cautious as Bangladesh will again come in to the game high on confidence.