New Zealand win 3rd T20I by 17 runs, level series 1-1

New Zealand win 3rd T20I by 17 runs, level series 1-1 

New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 17 runs (DLS method) in the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

The win made sure the hosts level the series 1-1 after losing the first match, and the second contest being called off due to rain.  

The hosts were at 95 for the loss of five after 14.4 overs, with Jimmy Neesham (28) and Santner (18) in the middle, before rain stopped play. 

The Black Caps went back to the pavilion 17 runs ahead in DLS calculations. 

Neesham and Mitchell Santner steadied the ship and took control of their 111-run target before rain stopped play. Following early jitters that saw the hosts get reduced to 49 for the loss of five, Neesham and Santner put together a 46-run stand propelling the Black Caps to 95 for five after 14.4 overs when rain stopped proceedings.  

Neesham came out as the aggressor as he took Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto for 14 runs in the 10th over to ease the pressure and tilt the permutations in favour of the hosts as his unbeaten 20-ball 28 put New Zealand ahead in DLS calculations

Two wickets a piece from Mahedi Hasan and Shoriful Islam had put Bangladesh in a strong position but the Neesham-Santner duo managed to thwart away further damage. 

Earlier, New Zealand skipper Santner starred with four wickets to help bundle out Bangladesh for 110.

Santner returned four for 16 from his four and was aptly complemented by the pace trio of Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Ben Sears, who scalped two each to skittle out the visitors for the lowest total at the venue. 

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with a 15-ball 17-run knock. Middle order batters Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain managed 16 and 14 respectively to cap off a dismal effort with the bat.

Neesham, Santner take control before rain interrupts 

New Zealand batters Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner steadied the ship and took control of their 111-run target before rain stopped play in the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Following early jitters that saw the hosts get reduced to 49 for the loss of five, Neesham and Santner put together a 46-run stand propelling the Black Caps to 95 for five after 14.4 overs when rain stopped proceedings.  

Neesham came out as the aggressor as he took Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto for 14 runs in the 10th over to ease the pressure and tilt the permutations in favour of the hosts as his unbeaten 20-ball 28 put New Zealand ahead in DLS calculations, meaning that if play does not resume, New Zealand would be declared winners and would level the series 1-1. 

Santner delivered able support with the bat with his unbeaten 20-ball 18. 

Earlier, two wickets a piece from Mahedi Hasan and Shoriful Islam put Bangladesh in a strong position despite setting a meagre 110-run total. 

Shoriful's second puts Bangladesh on top 

Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam struck twice to reduce New Zealand to five down for 49 after nine overs in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. 

Opener Finn Allen, who was the set batter on 38, was Shoriful's second wicket after he castled dangerman Glenn Phillips for one. 

Shoriful nipped it back slightly into Allen off a length and that did the trick as the ball snaked past the inside edge of Allen's blade and crashed onto the stumps. 

Bangladesh left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam bowled a stunner to castle New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips for one in the fifth over of the innings in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. 

Phillips's dismissal left the hosts three down for 35 runs after the first six overs.

Shoriful bowled one on a length and got it to deck back into Phillips and the right-handed batter leans forward and plays outside the line as he watched it go past his blade and crash onto the stumps. 

Mahedi strikes twice inside Powerplay

Bangladesh off-spinner Mahedi Hasan dismissed New Zealand batters Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell to reduce the hosts to two down for 26 after four overs in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. 

Mahedi got Seifert first when he bowled it full and fast outside off stump in the second over of the innings. Seifert wanted to reverse weep it but got beaten on the pace and missed it completely. Wicketkeeper Rony Talukdar made no mistake and whipped the bails off in time to send the batter back to the pavilion. 

To get Mitchell out, Mahedi did the opposite in terms of pace. He gave it some air and brought down the pace. The ball held up a bit on the surface but Mitchell, who looked to take it over mid off, was already through on the shot and the right-handed batter could only chip it to the Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto at mid-off. 

Santner stars to restrict Bangladesh to 110 in final T20I 

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner starred with four wickets to help bundle out Bangladesh for 110 in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. 

Santner returned four for 16 from his four and was aptly complemented by the pace trio of Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Ben Sears, who scalped two each to skittle out the visitors for the lowest total at the venue. 

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with a 15-ball 17-run knock. Middle order batters Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain managed 16 and 14 respectively to cap off a dismal effort with the bat.

Earlier, Black Caps skipper won the toss and put Bangladesh into bat first . 

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarker was trapped lbw by New Zealand seamer Tim Southee for a run-a-ball four in the first over of the match. Soumya, who was promoted to open on the day, hit the third delivery of the over for four but failed to make contact with an in-swinging full-length delivery that crashed onto his front pad. The umpire was quick to signal out, a decision which Soumya instantly challenged but he was hard done by the umpire's call as Ball Tracking showed that the ball was just clipping leg stump.

Shanto, who looked good for his 15-ball 17-run knock, had put away four boundaries before his dismissal to Adam Milne. Despite a decent start, he wanted to further up the ante. In the fifth over, the left-handed batter made plenty of room and threw his hands at the ball but couldn't get the desired elevation, giving away an easy catch to Finn Allen at point. 

Middle-order batters Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain got sluggish starts but never looked set to get Bangladesh to a competitive total. Both were victims of Santner, with Afif being the first. He seemed out of ideas when he tried to take on the left-arm spinner by dancing down the wicket. He was beaten on the flight and responded by trying to fend it off but could only inside edge it onto his pads after which the ball lobbed to the wicketkeeper. He could manage two boundaries for his 13-ball 14.

Hridoy had a similar stifling experience in the middle as he struggled to get going in his lacklustre 18-ball 16. He too managed a couple of fours but lacked ideas to get Bangladesh out of trouble and conceded a loose poke to edge it to the wicketkeeper.  

Tigers reeling as Afif, Hridoy depart 

Bangladesh batters Afif Hossain and Towhid Hridoy departed in quick succession after getting starts leaving the Tigers in trouble at five down for 68 after 11 overs.

Afif, who struggled for his 13-ball 14, was the first to go when he lobbed one off the inside edge to the keeper off the bowling of Mitchell Santner in the ninth over.

Hridoy edged one to the wicketkeeper in the 11th over after scoring a sluggish 18-ball 16.

Shanto, Rony depart as Tigers lose three in Powerplay 

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and opener Rony Talukdar departed in the fifth and sixth over respectively to leave the Tigers three down for 45 after the Powerplay in the third and final T20I of the three-match series against New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Shanto, who scored a 15-ball 17-run knock, had put away four boundaries before his dismissal to Adam Milne and wanted to further up the ante. He made plenty of room and threw his hands at the ball but couldn't get the desired elevation, giving away an easy catch to Finn Allen at point. 

Opener Rony Talukdar missed a full-length delivery and was given out lbw in the sixth over after scoring a nine-ball 10. Pacer Ben Sears pushed it up and managed to get the better of Rony, who would feel unfortunate as replays later showed that the ball was going down the leg side without hitting the stumps. 

Tigers lose Soumya in opening over

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarker was trapped lbw by New Zealand seamer Tim Southee for a run-a-ball four in the first over of the match in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Soumya, who was promoted to open on the day, hit the third delivery of the over for four but failed to make contact to an in-swinging full length delivery that crashed onto his front pad. The umpire was quick to signal out, a decision which Soumya instantly challenged but he was hard done on umpire's call as Ball Tracking showed that the ball was just clipping leg stump.

Th Tigers were one down with 10 runs on the board after the end of the first over.

Bangladesh to bat first in 3rd NZ T20I

Bangladesh were sent into bat first after New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and opted to bowl in the third and final T20I of the three-match series at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

The Tigers made one change as they brought in left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam in place of right-arm pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib. This move means that they go in with three specialist spinners and two frontline pacers, with as plenty of part-time options. 

Rony Talukdar will continue to keep wickets for the visitors as Liton Das remains on the bench due to an injury. Liton played the first match but missed out on the second. 

The Black Caps, however, went in with the same eleven. 

Bangladesh come into the contest with a 1-0 lead in the series having won the first T20I by five wickets in Napier on Wednesday. The Tigers cannot lose the series as the second T20I was called off due to rain but they would be looking to seal a historic maiden series win (in any format) in New Zealand.

Eight out of the 11 matches at the venue were won by teams batting first, with the other three ending in no results.  

Bangladesh: Rony Talukdar (wk), Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears