Agency :
Bangladesh are on the verge of completing consecutive T20I series wins at home but New Zealand will hope they can make a strong comeback in the third match today at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The match which starts at 4PM will be aired live on Gazi TV and T Sports.
Bangladesh have managed to turn their home into a fortress of sorts lately, winning 11 out of 13 T20Is since 2019. After beating Australia 4-1 last month, they are now closing in on yet another series win at home.
Bangladesh will hope to wrap up the series in the third T20I so they can experiment in the remaining two games ahead of the Round 1 of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
New Zealand, meanwhile, will be hoping that they can continue to improve their performances in difficult conditions. After being bowled out for 60 in the first T20I, the inexperienced Blackcaps showed tremendous grit in the second match by taking the game to the last ball.
While the spinners have already adapted to the conditions in Bangladesh, Tom Latham will want his batters to put their hands up in the remaining games, starting with the third T20I on Sunday.
New Zealand put up a much better fight than they did in the first T20I but still fell short by 4 runs in a thrilling contest.
After choosing to bat first, Bangladesh put up 141/6 in their 20 overs, thanks to vital contributions from Mohammad Naim (39), Liton Das (33) and Mahmud Ullah (37*). Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers for the Blackcaps with figures of 3/22.
In their chase, New Zealand were in a spot of bother as they lost their openers within the first four overs. Captain Latham led the Kiwi fightback with an unbeaten half-century but didn’t find much support at the other end.
It finally boiled down to New Zealand needing 20 off the last over and six off the last ball, but the experienced Mustafizur Rahman held his nerve to give away just a single as Bangladesh went 2-0 up in the series.
Bangladesh captain Mahmud Ullah said, “In T20s, you get these sort of close games. Happy to get the win, that’s what matters. We believe that we are a good team in this format. We are happy to continue this streak (eight wins in 2021).”
New Zealand captain Tom Latham said,”It was a great game. For us to learn from the first game, I thought we did that. We weren’t quite as good with the ball today but we bowled quite well at the top. A better surface makes for a better game and that was the case. The guys coming in did a really good job. I am really proud of the guys the way turned things around.”
