Azaj Patel (4-16) and Cole McConchie (3-15) spun a web around the Bangladesh batters to help New Zealand register a comfortable 52-run win in the third T20I at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. Tom Latham’s side are now trailing 1-2 in the five-match series.
Finn Allen struck three fours in his 10-ball 15 to get New Zealand off to a blistering start after they opted to bat. Rachin Ravindra and Will Young made a run-a-ball 20 each to carry the momentum on a sluggish Mirpur track.
New Zealand slipped from 58/3 to 62/5 after Colin de Grandhomme and Latham fell cheaply in the middle overs. Henry Nicholls (36* in 29 balls) and Tom Blundell (30*) took charge from there. They added an unbroken 66 in 55 balls to take New Zealand to 128/5.
Despite bowling a maiden, Mustafizur Rahman was the only Bangladeshi bowler who went for more than seven an over.
Coming to the chase, Mohammad Naim and Liton Das added 23 in 17 balls to give Bangladesh a promising start. However, they lost four wickets for nine runs after that, and were left reeling on 32/4 in 7 overs.
Bangladesh never really recovered from that collapse. Mushfiqur Rahim was their only batter to score more than 15. He remained not out on 20, but took 37 balls to reach there.
Wickets kept falling in regular intervals around him as Bangladesh were bowled out for just 76 in 19.4 overs. This became the first T20I between two Test-playing nations where no six was hit.
Brief scores: New Zealand 128/5 in 20 overs (Henry Nicholls 36*; Mohammad Saifuddin 2-28) beat Bangladesh 76 in 19.4 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 20*; Ajaz Patel 4-16) by 52 runs. Player of the Match: Ajaz Patel.