Tigers stroll to maiden T20I win against Kiwis
When Mushfiqur Rahim struck Cole McConchie over midwicket for a boundary in the 15th over, Bangladesh had registered their first-ever T20I victory over New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday, less than a month after clinching their maiden T20I series against Australia at home.
The seven-wicket victory was all the more overwhelming for the Tigers as they did it after bundling out New Zealand for a paltry 60 in 16.5 overs -- Kiwis' joint-lowest total ever in T20Is.
The win also saw T20I skipper Mahmudullah Riyad become the most successful captain for Bangladesh in the format. Mahmudullah now has led Bangladesh to 11 victories in 23 T20Is, surpassing the previous best of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who led the Tigers to 10 victories in 28 T20Is.
It was once again Shakib Al Hasan who played the pivotal role in such a dominating win. Shakib, who was adjudged the player-of-the-series against Australia last month, continued his good run of form with yet another all-round performance.
The premier all-rounder picked up two wickets giving away just 10 runs in his four overs before playing a crucial role with the bat, scoring a team-high of 25 off 33 deliveries that stabilised the innings after Bangladesh had lost two early wickets.
Coming into the series on the back of a historic 4-1 series victory against the Aussies, Bangladesh were clear favourites against an inexperienced New Zealand side, who are on the tour without a single player from their squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Mahmudullah's troops did play like favourites as they began the rout by reducing the clueless visitors to four for nine runs in four overs after Kiwi skipper Tom Latham had elected to bat.
Latham and Henry Nicholls then began rebuilding, but always looked shaky and indecisive against Bangladesh bowlers who already had their tail up and were looking unplayable on a slow, low and gripping Mirpur pitch, tailor-made for enhancing their abilities.
Latham's 34-run stand with Nicholls eventually came to an end when the former mistimed a pull-shot off all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin in the 11th over.
None of the Kiwi partnerships after that crossed double-figure mark as left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman rattled the tail, picking up three wickets for just 13 runs in 2.5 overs.
Coming in to chase a low total, Bangladesh were left in the lurch by openers Mohammad Naim and Liton Das as both exited after scoring just a solitary run each.
However, a fruitful contribution from Shakib followed by unbeaten scores of 16 and 14 from Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah respectively saw the Tigers eventually register an easy victory with 30 balls to spare.