In a historic moment, Bangladesh secured their maiden T20I victory on New Zealand soil, achieving a memorable five-wicket win in Napier on Wednesday. Spearheaded by Shoriful Islam’s impressive three-wicket performance and Litton Das’s unbeaten 42, the Tigers successfully chased down a challenging target of 135. Despite facing setbacks with regular wicket falls, Litton Das displayed resilience, guiding Bangladesh to victory with eight balls to spare.
The early departure of Rony Talukdar (10) in the second over set the tone, followed by Najmul Hossain Shanto’s confident start (19) that couldn’t materialize, and Soumya Sarkar’s promising innings (22) cut short by a stunning delivery from Ben Sears. Towhid Hridoy (18) and Afif Hossain (1) fell quickly, but Mahedi Hasan (19*) held firm, eventually hitting the winning shot off Adam Milne.
Bangladesh’s bowlers set the stage for success by limiting New Zealand to their lowest T20I total against them – 134 for nine. Mahedi struck early, and Shoriful’s two-wicket burst in the second over put the Black Caps in a precarious position at 2 for 3. Contributions from Mahedi and Mustafizur Rahman, who took two wickets each, further stymied the hosts. Despite efforts from James Neesham (48) and Mitchell Santner (23) to rebuild, the total proved insufficient against Bangladesh’s determined pursuit.
This triumph signifies a significant turnaround for Bangladesh, marking their first-ever white-ball victories in New Zealand. With two consecutive victories on Kiwi soil, Bangladesh has etched a new chapter in their cricketing history.
