Bangladesh 137 for 5 (Litton 42*, Sarkar 22, Southee 1-16, Santner 1-16) won New Zealand 134 for 9 (Neesham 48, Santner 23, Shoriful 3-26, Mahedi 2-14) with five wickets
Mahedi starred with both ball and bat, starting New Zealand’s batting collapse with a wicket in the first over followed by Daryl Mitchell later. He also partnered Litton – just when Bangladesh looked like capitulating – to finish with an unbeaten 16-ball 19 including the match-winning shot for four.
Shoriful, Mahedi, Mustafizur are having fun
The New Zealand fans wore their Santa hats but it was the visitors who had an early cheer after Bangladesh elected to bowl in the toss. Offspinner Mahedi took the new ball and flattened Tim Seifert’s stumps after taking a ball to spin inside the first over. At the other end, Shoriful took a full ball to get away from Finn Allen who took the lead to first slip, followed by dismissing Glenn Phillips lbw on the next delivery. Soon after, New Zealand’s 1 for 3 became 20 for 4 when Mitchell tried to go inside-out from Mahedi, only to play inside the line of the ball and see his stumps rattle.
Sorriful would return in his second spell to concede a couple of boundaries against Mitchell Sandner and James Neesham but had the last laugh when he caught Sandner at short midwicket. Soumya Sarkar wasn’t sure he had taken the catch but the TV umpire ruled it clean.
Mustafizur had a shaky first spell but in the end ensured Bangladesh did not get too many leaks. He stopped Neesham – looking solid on a 28-ball 48 at that point – in his tracks by making him hole out to deep cover. He also cheated Tim Southee. In total, Mustafizur scored 15 wickets, conceded just one six against the run of the game and returned figures of 2 for 15. In all, the three bowlers combined for figures of 12-0-55-7.
New Zealand’s bowlers are keeping the visitors on their toes
The chase looked simple, but New Zealand knew their new-ball effort could turn their course. Adam Milne was too quick for Ronnie Talukdar and missed a shot at mid off in the second over.
Najmul Hossain Shanto hit back with four boundaries in his 16-ball 19, but his continued aggression saw him dismissed, trying to pull Neesham in the fifth over. Sarkar’s dismissal in the ninth over quickly led to a scintillating innings of 22, and while Bangladesh were well on their way to the target, a third wicket in nine overs gave New Zealand just the opening they were looking for with another wicket revealing the lowest – middle class.
But No.5 Towhid Hridoy and Litton ensured that won’t happen so soon. Their stand of 29 runs was effective if not attractive, and the visitors moved towards triple figures with the required run-rate well in check. However, Hridoy took a catch to cover Santner in the 14th over, followed by Southee removing Afif through a short ball. At 97 for 5, it looked like Bangladesh were starting to lose the plot, more so when Litton survived a narrow LBW shout after a review.
Litton, Mahedi sink under pressure
It was then that Litton, with 22 off 28 balls with zero boundaries in 15 overs, decided to make his mark on the game. He eased the pressure by hitting Milne for a leg four in the 16th over, followed by 10 runs in two balls from Ben Sears in the 18th over, including a lofted shot that Ish Sodhi caught in the deep but went over the boundary line.
That 14-run Sears freed up New Zealand’s slim position in the contest and Mahedi ended the game by carving Milne for a six over cover, then pulling two in the deep, followed by a chip to the off side for a four.
The win was Bangladesh’s first T20I win against New Zealand in New Zealand and their first in Napier in three attempts. For the home side, it was their third defeat in six games at McLean Park, with the race now moving north to Mt Maunganui for the final two games.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx