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That brings us to the end of Sportskeeda's coverage for the opening T20I between Bangladesh and New Zealand. You can switch tabs and follow the India-South Africa opening Test which is currently underway but for now, this is me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator Pragadeesh.
Bangladesh won by 5 wickets (with 8 deliveries to spare)
Litton Das 42*(36) | Shoriful Islam 3/26(4) James Neesham 48(29) | James Neesham 1/7(1)
The target of 135 was always going to be a below-par one, especially on a surface where the ball was coming onto the bat nicely. Openers Rony Talukdar and Litton Das came out with a positive frame of mind. Rony in particular smashed a four and a six before getting a top edge of Adam Milne. Najmul Hossain Shanto came out all guns blazing and looked in stupendous touch right from the word go.
He spanked four boundaries in absolutely no time but ended up bunting a back-of-a-length delivery straight down the throat of the mid-off fielder. Soumya Sarkar and Litton kept batting sensibly and rotated the strike. Sarkar continued from where the left the other day, scoring a quickfire 22 of 15 deliveries which included a couple of fours and a six. It was debutant Ben Sears who castled him with a good length delivery which just moved back a tad and rattled the stumps.
Towhid Hridoy smashed a massive six off Tim Southee to get going and the equation was getting easier with each passing delivery. However some tight overs towards the end brought New Zealand back into the game. Afif Hossain was dismissed early and Southee almost got Litton when he was adjudged LBW only to be overturned on review. Just when the pressure seemed to be building, it was Litton Das who struck a four and a six to bring the equation down and eventually some powerful hits from Mahedi Hasan ensured that Bangladesh reached the target with eight deliveries to spare.
Bangladesh huffed and puffed their way to the victory target in the end but not before they were consistently challenged by the New Zealand bowlers. It was Litton Das who held his composure and remained unbeaten to take his side over the finish line. Mahedi Hasan also chipped in with some vital runs towards the end as Bangladesh took a 1-0 lead in the three match series. With the win, they have also brought up their maiden T20I win against New Zealand in New Zealand. The home team has been totally outplayed in all three departments of the game.
18.4 Adam Milne to Mahedi Hasan, FOUR! Bangladesh go 1-0 up in the series. Comes down the track and lofts the length delivery over mid-off to finish the formality.
18.3 Adam Milne to Mahedi Hasan, dug it short and it's been pulled to the left of deep square leg for a couple of runs
Bangladesh on the verge of scripting history here. What a superb hit from Mahedi and Bangladesh just a hit away from winning this.
18.2 Adam Milne to Mahedi Hasan, SIX! WHAT A STRIKE! Mahedi isn't afraid of Milne as he steps away in advance to access the shorter side. Milne goes full and this length doesn't help him at all. Mahedi gets underneath it and creams it over deep cover for a maximum
18.1 Adam Milne to Mahedi Hasan, back of a length around off-stump, Mahedi dabs it to backward point
Adam Milne [3-0-27-1] is back into the attack.
That's a game turning over for Bangladesh in the context of the game. Litton starting the over with a four and a six and that almost sealed the deal as far as Bangladesh is concerned. Just 10 more required off the last two overs. Bangladesh have got this under control.
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McLean Park, Napier
