Recent Match Report – New Zealand vs Bangladesh 1st T20I 2023/24

Bangladesh 137 for five (Litton 42*, Sarkar 22, Southee 1-16, Santner 1-16) beat New Zealand 134 for 9 (Neesham 48, Santner 23, Shoriful 3-26, Mahedi 2-14) by 5 wickets

Mahedi starred with each ball and bat, beginning New Zealand’s batting collapse with a wicket within the first over after which Daryl Mitchell’s later. He additionally hung round with Litton – simply when Bangladesh gave the impression to be capitulating – to complete on an unbeaten 16-ball 19 together with hitting the profitable shot for 4.

Shoriful, Mahedi, Mustafizur make merry

The New Zealand followers had their Santa hats on, however it was the guests who had been rejoicing early after Bangladesh selected to bowl on the toss. The offspinner Mahedi took the brand new ball and flattened Tim Seifert’s poles after getting a ball to show in inside the primary over. From the opposite finish, Shoriful bought a full ball to nip away from Finn Allen that took the sting to first slip, adopted by the first-ball lbw dismissal of Glenn Phillips subsequent supply. Quickly after, New Zealand’s rating of 1 for 3 turned 20 for 4 when Mitchell tried to go inside-out off Mahedi, solely to play inside the road of the ball and see his stumps rattled.

Shoriful would return in his second spell to concede a couple of boundaries towards Mitchell Santner and James Neesham, however he had the final chortle when he bought Santner caught at brief midwicket. Soumya Sarkar wasn’t certain he had taken the catch, however the TV umpire adjudicated it was clear.

Mustafizur had a wicketless first spell, however within the back-end ensured Bangladesh didn’t leak runs extravagantly. He stopped Neesham – wanting stable on a 28-ball 48 at that time – on his tracks by having him gap out to deep cowl. He additionally deceived Tim Southee. General, Mustafizur bowled 15 dots, conceded only one six towards the run of play, and returned figures of two for 15. In all, the three bowlers mixed for figures of 12-0-55-7.

Bangladesh dealt New Zealand some large blows early on•Getty Photos

NZ bowlers preserve guests on their toes

The chase appeared easy, however New Zealand knew their new-ball effort may nonetheless probably flip the tide their approach. Adam Milne was too fast for Rony Talukdar, and he miscued a shot to mid-on within the second over.

Najmul Hossain Shanto counterattacked with 4 boundaries in his 16-ball 19, however his continued aggression brought about his dismissal, attempting to tug Neesham within the fifth over. Sarkar’s dismissal within the ninth over introduced a swift finish to a glittering innings of twenty-two, and whereas Bangladesh had been on the right track in direction of the goal, a 3rd wicket inside 9 overs gave New Zealand simply the opening they had been on the lookout for with one other wicket exposing the lower-middle order.

However No. 5 Towhid Hridoy and Litton ensured that would not occur so quickly. Their 29-run stand was efficient if not engaging, and the guests moved in direction of triple figures with the required run-rate effectively in management. Nonetheless, Hridoy chipped a catch to brief cowl off Santner within the 14th, adopted by Southee’s removing of Afif by way of a brief ball. At 97 for five, it appeared like Bangladesh had been starting to lose the plot, extra so when Litton survived an in depth LBW shout courtesy a assessment quickly after.

Litton, Mahedi soak within the stress

That is when Litton, on 22 off 28 balls with zero boundaries in 15 overs, determined to depart his mark on the sport. He eased some stress by smacking Milne for a leg-side 4 within the sixteenth, adopted by 10 runs in two balls off Ben Sears within the 18th together with a lofted shot that Ish Sodhi caught within the deep however stepped over the boundary line.

That 14-run Sears over launched any little maintain New Zealand had on the competition, and Mahedi ended the sport by carving Milne for six over cowl, then pulling two within the deep, adopted by a chip over the off aspect for a teasing 4.

The win was Bangladesh’s first T20I win towards New Zealand in New Zealand, and their first in Napier in three makes an attempt. For the hosts, this was their third defeat in six video games at McLean Park, with the competition now shifting northwards to Mount Maunganui for the final two video games.