New Zealand survive Bangladesh scare to level T20I series
Mitchell Santner delivered a key all-round performance (4-16 and 18*) to fashion the victory.
Bangladesh had their moments in the third T20I against New Zealand and at one stage threatened to win the series but the hosts prevailed by 17 runs (DLS) in a low-scoring game at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui to square the series 1-1.
Mitchell Santner delivered a key all-round performance (4-16 and 18*) to fashion the victory.
Defending 110, Bangladesh were all over Bangladesh early with new-ball specialist Mahedi Hasan getting rid of the big-hitting duo of Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell.
Shoriful Islam, another new-ball weapon, cleaned up Glenn Phillips in the fifth over and a mid-pitch collision led to the dismissal of Mark Chapman.
On the other end, Finn Allen (38 off 31) was going great guns but Najmul Hossain Shanto brought back Shoriful to get rid of him. It was the sixth time Allen got out to the left-arm seamer in the last six matches.
Shanto brought himself into the attack in the 10th over with two left-handers in the middle - Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner - but the move backfired big time as they picked up 14 runs to make the equation much easier.
That call from Shanto proved to be the turning point of the match as New Zealand then romped to victory without losing any more wickets.
Neesham (28* off 20) and Santner added 46* in 6.1 overs before rain stopped play in the 15th over. The Black Caps were 17 runs ahead on DLS at that point.
Mitchell Santner's masterful four-over spell restricted Bangladesh to a modest 110 in the third and final T20I at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. This was the lowest T20I total at this ground.
Bangladesh, put in to bat first, were off to a difficult start as they lost their top three inside the powerplay although they would feel hard done about two dismissals.
Soumya Sarkar was the first to make his way back to the hut. An in-swinging delivery from Tim Southee trapped him leg-before although it looked like the ball was sliding down the leg side. The only consolation was that the review was not lost because of the umpire's call on HawkEye.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (17 off 15) dealt in boundaries in his short-lived knock but the attempt to hit the ball too hard led to his downfall.
Rony Talukdar (10 off 10) was the third man to be dismissed but HawkEye suggested the ball would have missed the stumps and the right-hander would have survived had he taken a review. His dismissal left Bangladesh at 41-3 in the sixth over.
Bangladesh could never recover from that situation. New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner was outstanding with figures of 4-0-16-4, denying the Bangladesh middle order consisting of Towhid Hridoy (16 off 18), Afif Hossain (14 off 13) and Shamim Hossain (9 off 14).
It was a disappointing performance to say the least from the trio as they were unable to find a way to score off the spinners - Santner and Ish Sodhi.