New Zealand spinners gave a befitting reply to Bangladesh in the third T20I defending 128 against a strong batting line-up! In fact, Bangladesh are bowled out for just 76 runs registering their joint second-lowest total in this format of the game! NZ spinners bagged 8 wickets between them as they registered their first victory in this 5-match series with 2 more matches to go!
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| New Zealand players celebrating a wicket in the third T20I (Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo) |
New Zealand - 128/5 in 20 overs
Finn Allen made his first appearance in the playing XI in this series having completely recovered from the COVID-19. Though he scored just 15 runs (off 10 balls), he showed a glimpse of how fast he can score runs even on a slow surface! Though there were no big contributions from their top-order, Henry Nicholls (36* off 29 at no. 6) and Tom Blundell (30* off 30 at no. 7) remained unbeaten to add 66* runs for the 6th wicket!
Kiwis got to 128/5 in 20 overs courtesy of the unbeaten 6th wicket stand which lasted for 9.1 overs. Though the total was just par on any ground, it was more than enough on this slow Dhaka pitch! Mohammad Saifuddin (2 wickets), Mahedi Hasan (1), Mustafizur Rahman (1), Mahmudullah (1) are the wicket-takers for the home team in this innings.
Bangladesh - 76 all out in 19.4 overs
Bangladesh were clear favorites to win this game at the innings break given the batting strength they possess! However, they found their own ways to lose wickets in clusters and lost the game eventually by a big margin! Mushfiqur Rahim, unbeaten on 20*, was their top-scorer while only two other batters in the line-up got into the double digits!
New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel bagged 4 wickets as the hosts are bowled out for just 76 runs, their second joint-lowest total in T20Is. Ajaz's 4/16 in this innings are his best T20I figures in an innings! Cole McConchie (3/15) also bowled brilliantly on this turning track! Rachin Ravindra, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin de Grandhomme with a wicket each are the other wicket-takers in this innings.
Player of the Match:
Kiwis spinner Ajaz Patel bagged this award for his superb bowling figures. Conceding just 16 runs from 4 overs, Ajaz picked up 4 wickets. He broke the back of Bangladesh's run-chase with 2 wickets in the 4th over and 2 wickets in the 10th over.
What's next?
Bangladesh are currently leading the 5-match T20I series by 2-1. The fourth match of this series will be played at the same venue, Dhaka, on Wednesday (Sept 08).
Brief Scores: New Zealand - 128/5 in 20 overs (Henry Nicholls - 36*, Mohammad Saifuddin - 2/28) defeated Bangladesh - 76 all out in 19.4 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim - 20*, Ajaz Patel - 4/16) by a margin of 52 runs
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