NZ vs BAN, T20I: New Zealand 208 for 5 (Conway 64, Phillips 60, Saifuddin 2-37) beat Bangladesh 160 for 7 (Shakib 70, Litton 23, Milne 3-23) by 48 runs

By defeating Bangladesh by 48 runs in Christchurch, New Zealand joined Pakistan in the tri-series final. Adam Milne and Michael Bracewell made early inroads to bowl the hosts to a comprehensive victory after Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips scored quick sixes. Although Bangladesh appeared to be competitive with the bat, they were unable to maintain momentum in their pursuit of a score of over 200.

The chase was broken by Milne’s three wickets, and his speed made a difference. Tim Southee, who took over for Bracewell, finished with two wickets. With eight fours and a six, Shakib Al Hasan hit 70 off 44 balls, but there was no middle or lower order support. After being given the bat, New Zealand, on the other hand, put in a lot of strong batting performances.

Conway builds on Allen’s start Finn Allen started the same way he did against Pakistan in the previous match, going after Bangladesh’s bowlers in the first over. In the third over, he hit three boundaries and struck Ebadot Hossain for two sixes in three balls to get New Zealand off to a strong start. However, Allen was bowled out by Shoriful Islam in the fifth over when Yasir Ali caught the skier by moving to his right at midwicket.

Conway turned a promising start into a significant score

In his 40-ball 64, the left-hander dominated his 82-run partnership with Martin Guptill for the second wicket. He hit five fours and three sixes. In addition, Guptill played well toward the end of his 27-ball 34. 

Phillips used the top three batsmen in New Zealand as a perfect platform to take aim at Bangladesh. In the 16th over, he hit Shakib with two slog-swept sixes. In the next over, Mohammad Saifuddin took out Conway and Mark Chapman in four balls, but Phillips continued and hit Shoriful Islam and Saifuddin for sixes in succession to reach a half-century in 19 balls. Phillips had the third highest strike rate of any New Zealand batter who had scored more than 60 runs in a T20I innings, with a rate of 250.

Bangladesh had their best powerplay of the tri-series

Despite using a third opening pair in as many games. Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar attacked the bowlers after Milne removed Najmul Hossain Shanto in the fourth over. However, they were unable to capitalise on their initial opportunities, as Litton fouled out in the sixth over and Soumya ramped one to third man in the tenth over. Despite not being able to maintain the required run rate, Bangladesh appeared more at ease as a batting unit for the first time on this tour.

From the very first ball Shakib faced, he charged down the wicket and lofted Bracewell over mid-on for a four, demonstrating his proficiency. When he batted on 11, he got an extra life, and he made sure to use it, soaring to a half-century in 33 balls.There was little Shakib could do with the asking rate rising and wickets falling frequently at the other end. He also hit big shots at the quicks, but Bangladesh needed 56 runs from 11 balls to win.

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Milne bowled well on his return from a niggle, while Bracewell bowled well after his sparse returns in the last two matches. Bracewell continued to impress. Bracewell took two wickets and made a difficult catch on the boundary after winning Player-of-the-Match awards in consecutive matches. He bowled Afif Hossain in the 12th over of the Bangladesh innings and only gave up three runs. Later, he fumbled Yasir Ali with a superb catch at the boundary line.