A three-wicket haul from Josh Clarkson and Bevon Jacobs' unbeaten 31-ball 62 powered New Zealand to a six-wicket win via DLS in the third and final T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday (May 2). The result sees the spoils shared at 1-1, after Bangladesh took the honours in the opener and the second game was rained out.
Electing to field first, New Zealand kept things fairly tight in the first three overs before debutant Jayden Lennox struck off his first delivery to dismiss Saif Hassan. Litton Das got going with a four and a six early in his innings but Nathan Smith removed Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon off consecutive deliveries to leave Bangladesh in trouble. There was no further damage in the Powerplay as Bangladesh ended the phase at 43/3, although the heavens opened up four deliveries into the seventh over, causing large puddles to be formed on the outfield.
After a delay of nearly two hours, the contest was reduced to a 15-over affair. Towhid Hridoy resumed with a boundary and picked up another six, but Clarkson dismissed Das in his first over. Hridoy continued to go strong as Bangladesh were on the lookout for an acceleration. But Shamim Hossain fell to an Ish Sodhi full toss before Clarkson struck twice in the 13th over, accounting for Hridoy's wicket in the process. Rishad Hossain was run out attempting a non-existent second run, while Ben Sears cleaned up the tail as Bangladesh were bowled out for 104.
Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 103 in 15 overs, New Zealand lost two wickets in the second over to Shoriful Islam as Katene Clarke and Dane Cleaver both managed a run apiece. Tim Robinson greeted Ripon Mondol with a six and a four but was cleaned up by Shoriful, who continued to look threatening. Skipper Nick Kelly was bowled by Mahedi Hasan shortly after the 4.3-over Powerplay, leaving the visitors in a spot of bother at 33/4.
But Jacobs, who walked in at number 5, punished Shoriful for a couple of boundaries before rotating strike well against Rishad Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin, meaning that New Zealand had to go at just a run-a-ball off the last seven overs. Jacobs smashed a boundary off Rishad before slamming a six and running hard between the wickets in a 14-run over sent down by Mondol. The writing was clearly on the wall - summed up by Mahedi dropping Jacobs off his own bowling. The right-hander then went 6, 4, 6 off Rishad, raising a fifty and sealing the game in style with 20 deliveries to spare.
@B0$ Bangladesh 102 in 14.2 overs (Towhid Hridoy 33, Litton Das 26; Josh Clarkson 3-9, Ben Sears 2-12) lost to New Zealand 104/4 in 11.4 overs (Bevon Jacobs 62*, Tim Robinson 23; Shoriful Islam 3-19) by 6 wickets (DLS)
