New Zealand joined Pakistan in the final of the tri-series by beating Bangladesh by 48 runs in Christchurch. After Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips made quickfire sixties, Adam Milne and Michael Bracewell made early inroads to bowl the hosts to a comprehensive victory. Though Bangladesh looked competitive with the bat, they could not sustain the momentum in pursuit of a target of more than 200.
Milne’s three wickets broke the chase, with his pace making a difference. Bracewell and stand-in captain Tim Southee finished with two wickets apiece. Shakib Al Hasan struck 70 off 44 balls with eight fours and a six, but there was no support from the middle and lower order.
New Zealand, on the other hand, had plenty of strong batting performances after getting sent in to bat.
Finn Allen started from where he left off against Pakistan in the previous game, going after Bangladesh’s bowlers from the first over. He struck Ebadot Hossain for two sixes in three balls in the third over and hit three boundaries to get New Zealand off to a strong start. But Shoriful Islam removed Allen in the fifth over, when Yasir Ali moved to his right at midwicket to catch the skier.
Conway then converted his promising start into a big score. The left-hander dominated his 82-run stand with Martin Guptill for the second wicket, hitting five fours and three sixes in his 40-ball 64. Guptill also looked good towards the end of his 27-ball 34.
New Zealand’s top three gave Phillips the perfect platform to take aim at Bangladesh in the last five overs. He struck Shakib for two sixes – both slog-swept – in the 16th over. Mohammad Saifuddin removed Conway and Mark Chapman in the space of four balls in the following over, but Phillips carried on, slamming Shoriful Islam and Saifuddin for consecutive sixes to reach a half-century off 19 balls. Phillips’ strike rate of 250 was the third highest by a New Zealand batter who has scored more than 60 runs in a T20I innings.
Bangladesh, despite using a third opening pair in as many games, had their best powerplay of the tri-series. After Milne cleaned up Najmul Hossain Shanto in the fourth over, Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar attacked the bowlers. But they couldn’t convert their starts, with Litton holing out in the sixth over and Soumya ramping one to third man in the 10th over. Bangladesh could not keep up with the required run-rate but for the first time on this tour they looked more comfortable as a batting unit.
Shakib showed his fluency from the get-go, charging down the wicket on the first ball he faced to loft Bracewell over mid-on for a four. He got an extra life while he was batting on 11 and he made sure to take advantage of that, racing to a half-century off 33 balls. With wickets falling regularly at the other end and the asking rate climbing, there wasn’t much Shakib could do. He brought out the big shots against the quicks too, but he fell with Bangladesh needing 56 off 11 balls.
Milne bowled well on his comeback from a niggle, while Bracewell continued to impress after his frugal returns in the last two matches. After winning successive Player-of-the-Match awards in the previous matches, Bracewell took two wickets and also completed a difficult catch on the boundary. In the 12th of the Bangladesh innings, he bowled Afif Hossain and conceded just three runs. Later, he took a superb catch on the boundary line to dismiss Yasir Ali.
