Bangladesh beat NZ by 6 wickets in T20 series opener

Tawhid Hridoy’s half-century led Bangladesh to a six-wicket victory against New Zealand to open their T20 international series on Monday.

Hridoy finished 51 not out from 27 balls, including two fours and three sixes. He shared a 57-run partnership with Parvez Hossain and another 49 with Shamim Hossain in an unbeaten fifth wicket to help Bangladesh race to victory.

New Zealand posted a challenging 182-6, after 51 apiece from Dane Cleaver and opener Katene Clarke, and appeared set for victory as its bowlers checked Bangladesh top order batters, leaving the hosts 77-3 in the 11th over.

But Hridoy’s calculated aggression helped Bangladesh reach 183-4 with 12 balls to spare.

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, the only holdover from New Zealand’s recent World Cup campaign, led the visitors’ early charge with 2-40.

Hridoy then counterattacked to bring the asking run rate under control with support from Parvez Hossain, who made 28 off 14 balls. After his dismissal, Shamim Hossain came in to hit an unbeaten 31 off 13 balls.

Bangladesh captain Liton Das won the toss and put New Zealand into bat first. Clarke and Cleaver shared an 88-run stand for the second wicket after opener Tim Robinson was run out for a duck in the second over.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, who took 2-32, then removed both of the set batters in consecutive overs to stall the progress.

Bangladesh’s pace trio of Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and debutant Ripon Mondol were initially wayward but pulled things back after the breakthrough. Tanzim dismissed Bevin Jacobs to leave the visitors under pressure.

Stand-in New Zealand captain Nick Kelly, leading in the absence of injured Tom Latham, steadied the innings before a brief interruption due to bad light.

Following the break, Josh Clarkson provided late impetus with an unbeaten 27 off 14 balls to guide New Zealand to a challenging total.

The three-match series continues on Wednesday in Chattogram.