Chris Cairns

The Kiwis were desperate for a comfortable victory to keep their Super Six chances alive and boost their run-rate, and achieved it courtesy of an aggressive batting display by all their batsmen.

Craig McMillan put a quiet World Cup behind him as he scored a quickfire 75 off only 83 balls.

He shared a 71-run opening stand with skipper Stephen Fleming who, after he was dropped early on in his innings, climbed into the Bangladesh attack to score 32 off 40 balls before being caught and bowled by opposite number Khaled Mahmud.

Andre Adams was sent in to up the rate and managed it to some extent, scoring 18 off 22 before hitting the ball straight down Mohammed Ashraful's throat at mid-on.

This bought Scott Styris to the crease and he and McMillan put on 39 before the latter was bowled stepping across his crease in an attempt to sweep Mahmud, who eventually finished with 3/46 from his 10 overs.

Chris Cairns, who had a nightmare day in the field, strode to the crease and blasted 33 off only 21 balls to finish the match with more than 16 overs to spare. Styris ended unbeaten on 37 from as many balls.

Earlier, Bangladesh produced their best display of the competition when the notched up 198/7.

The Asians have been well below par so far, even managing a 60-run loss to minnows Canada, but they got their act together and showed why they were granted Test status by the International Cricket Council.

For a change they didn't try to play shots from the word go, mostly showing the type of composure you'd expect from a team of their stature.

Opening batsman Ashraful was the perfect example, batting sensibly as the wickets fell around him at regular intervals.

He kept the innings together before being the sixth man down, caught and bowled by Shane Bond for a classy 56.

Captain Mashud and spinner Mohammed Rafique kept the momentum going with a team record 70-run eighth wicket stand.