Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell maiden centuries highlight massive New Zealand win

New Zealand 318 for 6 (Conway 126, Mitchell 100*, Hossain 3-70) beat Bangladesh 154 (Mahmudullah 76*, Neesham 5-27, Henry 4-27) by 164 runs

It doesn't get much more convincing. Devon Conway's seamless transition to international cricket continued with a maiden century on his home ground and Daryl Mitchell made a late surge to his first ODI hundred before Bangladesh's batting did not offer much as they went down a series clean sweep in the third ODI in Wellington.

Briefly, when New Zealand were 57 for 3, the visitors had a foothold but they couldn't sustain it as Conway led the recovery which was capped off by Mitchell. The pair added 159 in 24 overs for the fifth wicket, while New Zealand as a whole got 107 off the last ten.

In reply, Matt Henry knocked off the Bangladesh top order - with the aid of a spectacular catch at third man by Trent Boult - and the rest of the batting was insipid with the exception of Mahmudullah, as James Neesham filled his boots with a career-best haul by claiming the last two wickets in four balls.

For Conway, this was his fifth fifty-plus score in 12 international innings - including the 99 not out in a T20I against Australia - and he converted into a century from 95 balls with a lofted square cut for this 13th boundary. He got his chance in this series because Kane Williamson is missing, but surely there will be no dislodging him.

Mitchell's century needed a last-ditch sprint off the final ball of the innings and he should have been run out but Mushfiqur Rahim fumbled the return. With eight balls remaining, he had been on 83 before a six off Rubel Hossain followed by three consecutive boundaries at the start of the last over brought the hundred in sight.

The early progress had been steady before Henry Nicholls was given a life when Rahim couldn't hold an edge, but two balls later the left hander nicked to second slip where Liton Das held on to the relief of the often-luckless Taskin Ahmed. Next over, Martin Guptill gave away another start when he toe-ended a pull to mid-on, while Ross Taylor's return after injury was a brief stay when he edged a cut off Hossain after being dropped on 3.

Conway and Tom Latham rebuilt steadily with the innings given impetus in the 19th over when Conway took three consecutive boundaries off Mustafizur Rahman: a controlled guide to third man, a genuine nick and then a perfect on-drive.

In conditions offering some assistance for the seamers, Tamim Iqbal turned to the medium pace of Soumya Sarkar and he struck first ball with Latham superbly caught at point by Mehidy Hasan. Sarkar would do a good job for his captain with eight overs for 37. Bangladesh managed to hold the innings for a period after that as Mitchell played himself in and briefly dominated the strike, but the ball after Conway went to fifty from 52 balls, Mitchell launched Mehidy over midwicket for six.

Conway did not hit a boundary between the 23rd and 37th overs, but the partnership got built at a good tempo. Having come up fractionally short of a century earlier in the season, he sent Ahmed through point and then cut loose in the closing stages of the innings with four more boundaries in 12 balls before picking out deep-midwicket.

Mitchell, who had been promoted above Neesham when New Zealand were four down with more than half the innings remaining, could have been run out on 24 but the fielder from cover couldn't pick up cleanly and he was also dropped on 63. That would prove costly for Bangladesh who had just about managed to keep a lid on the late overs until Mitchell's final dip.

A big full toss went over deep-square leg before he took advantage of Rahman missing his length - and bowling a no-ball - while Mitchell Santner helped with some desperate scampering. Mitchell lost the strike with two balls remaining, but Santner was able to take three to deep-cover to give him the final delivery. It should have just been a single, but Mitchell was able to walk off with the ovation for a century.

Iqbal, one of Bangladesh's best hopes of making a dent on the chase, departed in the second over when he nicked a gem of a delivery from Henry. In Henry's next over, Sarkar top-edged to fine leg and there was already a sense the innings would not be much of a contest.

A moment for the highlights reel arrived in the seventh over when Das, aiming to the leg side, sent a top edge flying to third man where Boult sprinted to his left, dived and held the catch one-handed while having avoided losing his grip.

The excitement levels dipped after that as Bangladesh opted for a largely defensive approach against some testing bowling, having a particular challenge against the bounce of Kyle Jamieson whose first six-over spell cost just 12. Neesham was a beneficiary of the pressure created with a bag of middle-order wickets as various attempts at some counterattacking didn't come off.

Madmudullah, who has previously enjoyed success in New Zealand, fought to a 64-ball half-century and brought some belated aggression to a lost cause but it was merely a footnote.