Bangladesh had earlier clinched one-day series against minnows Zimbabwe and a depleted West Indies, but it was their first series victory against a big team, thanks to skipper Shakib.
Shakib, 23, was key to Bangladesh’s victory before a sizeable crowd at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, hitting a 113-ball 106 for his fifth one-day hundred to help his side post 241.
New Zealand were bowled out for 232 in the last over, with middle-order batsman Kane Williamson posing a major threat to Bangladesh’s total with a fighting 108 for his maiden one-day hundred.
“I think we have played great cricket throughout the series. We have shown great character,” said Shakib, named man of the match.
“Williamson batted well. I think I batted sensibly and didn’t take too many risks. But I do need to work on my bowling as I haven’t bowled as well as I would have liked.”
Williamson, 20, also became the youngest New Zealand player to hit a one-day hundred. He cracked two sixes and six fours in his 132-ball knock.
Batting with a runner because of cramp in the later part of his innings, Williamson added 70 for the sixth wicket with Grant Elliott (22) and 53 for the eighth with Nathan McCullum (33).
New Zealand suffered a setback when McCullum was run out in the 49th over.
They needed 16 to win in the last over, but could manage only six as Williamson
was the last man out, caught in the deep off seamer Shaiful Islam.
Shakib used his spinners well, and himself was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 54 runs with his left-arm spin.
He pressed his slow bowlers early into the attack, and the move instantly clicked as left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak dismissed opener Bradley-John Watling (six) in his second over.
Spinners Mohammad Mahmudullah and Suhrawadi Shuvo got a wicket apiece.
“Bangladesh have played better cricket than us and deserved the victory,” said New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.
“They (Bangladesh) have shown us how to play in these conditions. Kane’s hundred is the positive to take out from this game. We should have adapted quicker than we have. We must restore some pride in the last game.”
Shakib earlier put on 53 for the fourth wicket with Imrul Kayes (37), 51 for the next with Mushfiqur Rahim (13) and 68 for the sixth with Mahmudullah (37) after paceman Kyle Mills had rocked the hosts with a double strike.
Mills removed opener Shahriar Nafees and Junaid Siddique in his opening three overs to reduce Bangladesh to 44-3, but Shakib steadied the innings with a responsible knock on a slow track.
Shakib hit the match’s first six, hoisting Mills over long-on. He completed his century in the 41st over, flicking left-arm spinner Vettori for his 11th boundary.
He fell in the 43rd over, giving a return catch to Vettori after hitting one six and 11 fours.
Debutant seamer Hamish Bennett finished 3-44, while Vettori, Daryl Tuffey and Mills each took two wickets.
The blaze raged for three hours, destroying a row of multi-storey apartment buildings and trapping hundreds of residents in Dhaka’s densely populated Kayettuli area, city police chief A.K.M Shahidul Haq told AFP.
“At least 108 people have died including those who expired in hospitals. The toll may rise as quite a few are in critical condition,” district administrator Muhibul Haque said.
The blaze has been put out and a search-and-rescue effort halted after firefighters scoured “every inch of the fire-hit buildings,” Dhaka fire department chief Abu Nayeem told AFP.
“A wedding party was on the roof of one building and we think this is why the number of casualties is so high,” Nayeem said, adding that highly flammable stock, including chemicals, in a string of small shops had fuelled the blaze.
“At least 41 bodies have been pulled out from the wedding party building,” he said.
One witness told AFP: “The bride was spared from the fire as she had been at the local beauty salon.”
Hundreds of people were trapped in burning buildings for hours as rescue workers struggled to contain the blaze, their work hampered by the narrow lanes of the crowded residential area.
Nayeem said the fire had been caused by an electrical fault and took grip before firefighters could access the area.
“At the same time, cooking for the wedding feast was going on at the ground floor staircase of the wedding party building, which fuelled the flames,” he added.
“People joining the wedding party were trapped in the building and suffocated or burnt as they could not come out because the cooking spread the fire through the staircase. At least seven buildings were engulfed,” Nayeem said.
“The temperature and fumes became unbearable because of the chemicals,” he said, adding that a bakery with several large gas burners and a string of small shops selling cheap, flammable plastic goods had also caught fire.
“We struggled to get inside due to the narrow stairways of the very old buildings, it is almost impossible for us to get firefighting equipment into the area,” he said.
All off-duty medical personnel were called in to Dhaka Medical College, whose hospital was overwhelmed by the rush of victims, said Shahidul Bari, a specialist at the burns unit.
He said 12 bodies had been received at the morgue soon after the fire began. Another 100 people had been admitted with severe burns and smoke inhalation.
“Our unit is full and more patients are pouring in. It’s a disaster of huge proportions,” Bari said.
“Patients are being treated in the corridors and still more are coming in. We are sending the most critically ill to the hospital’s emergency units,” he said.
Fires due to short-circuits, substandard wiring and electrical faults are common in Bangladesh, where building regulations are rarely enforced.
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