Having secured a place in the last eight of the competition after beating England in their previous match, Bangladesh were under little pressure heading into their match and began badly as, batting first, they were reduced to 27-2 after 10 overs.

But Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah were able to lead a Bangladesh recovery, with Sarkar recording his maiden one day international half-century before falling for 51, but it was Mahmudullah who became the star of Bangladesh's innings.

Fresh from becoming the first Bangladesh batsman to record a World Cup century against England, Mahmudullah replicated the feat, eventually finishing on 128 not out, as his side set New Zealand a target of 289.

The Kiwi's appeared to be cruising to the target, with opener Martin Guptill scoring 105 off 100 balls before being caught off Shakib Al Hasan's bowling, but a late collapse put the match back in the balance.

Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee eventually saw the New Zealand over the line, reaching the target with just over an over left of the match.

England avoided further embarrassment after winning a rain affected match against Afghanistan but were still knocked out of the Cricket World cup ©AFP/Getty Images



Having topped Pool A, New Zealand will begin as favourites for their quarter-final against either Pakistan, Ireland or the West Indies, who are fighting to qualify from Pool B.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, will be huge underdogs in their last eight encounter against Pool B winners India.

Elsewhere in Pool A, England avoided further embarrassment as they overcame Afghanistan in a dead rubber in Sydney, in which the two nations World Cup tournaments came to an end.

Both teams' hopes of qualification to the knock-out phase had come to an end prior to the match and in a rain affected encounter, Afghanistan posted a total of 111 from 36.2 overs.

England were then made to chase a revised target of 101 off 25 overs following a further rain delay, and they made light work of their task with opener Ian Bell top scoring with 52 not out and reached the target with 6.5 overs to spare, losing only Alex Hales for 37.

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