Wobble at crease sees NZ short of good target
Bangladesh have won the T20 series against New Zealand after winning the fourth game by six wickets in Dhaka.
The home side clinched the fivematch series 3-1 with a game to spare on Wednesday night.
New Zealand lost their last eight wickets for 42 runs after opting to bat first, getting bundled out for 93 in 19.3 overs.
The only bright spark was Will Young, who struck five fours and a six in a gutsy 46 from 48 balls. Captain Tom Latham made 21 and Finn Allen 12. No other batsman reached double figures.
Black Caps coach Glenn Pocknall concedes they were 10 or 20 runs short of a par score.
“In hindsight, absolutely. The comms that were coming back a quarter of the way through the innings were that if we could get 100, 110 then we would be right in the game.
“So, to take it into the last over it proved about right, we just needed a few more runs on the board.”
Nasum Ahmed was named player of the match for a fine spell of leftarm spin bowling, ending with figures of
4-10 from his four overs.
Chasing only
94 for victory, the hosts lost early wickets and struggled for momentum before captain Mahmudullah (43 off 48) took charge and guided his side home with five balls to spare.
Despite their paltry total, left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel (2-9) kept New Zealand in the game, getting rid of the experienced Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim to leave Bangladesh wobbling on 32-3.
“We felt that we could defend 93. We certainly went into our bowling innings with confidence because it was a challenging wicket to bat on. But, we lost three wickets in the space of about 10 balls and that was our middle order. It was very difficult to resurrect the innings after that.”
Bangladesh were given a reprieve with 20 runs still needed when Mahmudullah found himself outside his crease after being beaten in the flight by Patel, only for Latham to miss the stumping.
Cole Mcconchie took the other wicket. Tom Blundell strained his left quad while batting and didn’t field.
The fifth T20 takes place at the same venue tonight.