New Zealand recovered from a poor start to defeat Bangladesh by six wickets in the rain-affected third T20 match on Saturday, leveling the three-match series 1-1. The second game had been washed out earlier, following Bangladesh's victory in the opener by six wickets.
Chase of revised target
Chasing a revised target of 103 runs in 15 overs, New Zealand found themselves in early trouble at 25-3 after Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam dismantled the top order. Stand-in captain Nick Kelly soon departed, leaving the hosts struggling at 33-4.
However, Bevon Jacobs turned the match around with a brilliant unbeaten 62 off just 31 balls. His innings included five fours and three sixes, guiding New Zealand to 104-4 in 11.4 overs. Bangladesh captain Litton Das continued to attack with Shoriful, but Jacobs responded aggressively, smashing back-to-back boundaries to shift momentum. He reached his fifty in 29 balls and finished the match in style with a boundary and a six. Shoriful still finished with impressive figures of 3-19.
Bangladesh collapse after rain break
Earlier, Bangladesh were asked to bat first but struggled from the start. They slipped to 50-3 in 6.4 overs before rain stopped play for more than two hours, reducing the contest to 15 overs per side. After the restart, Bangladesh attempted to attack every delivery, but the plan backfired badly. They lost their final seven wickets for just 39 runs in 35 balls and were bowled out for 102 in 14.2 overs.
Towhid Hridoy top-scored with 33 runs, while Litton Das made 26 and Saif Hassan added 16. No other batter reached double figures. Josh Clarkson starred with the ball for New Zealand, taking a career-best 3-9 in two overs. Ben Sears and Nathan Smith picked up two wickets each, while Ish Sodhi claimed one wicket to become New Zealand's leading T20I wicket-taker with 165 wickets, surpassing Tim Southee's 164.
