Bangladesh register their first T20 international win in New Zealand beating the home side by 5 wickets in Napier on Wednesday.
Replying to New Zealand’s modest 134 for 9, Bangladesh cruised to victory with 8 balls to spare.
Opener Litton Das was instrumental in the chase with an unbeaten 42 runs from 36 balls after Shoriful Islam, Mahedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman put up brilliant show with the ball.
Litton made an unbeaten partnership of 40 runs off 25 balls with Mahedi Hasan in the sixth wicket to take Bangladesh home after the they lost 5 wickets for 97 runs in 15th over. Mahedi was unbeaten 19 off 16 balls.
Soumya Sarkar made 22 off 15 and captain Shanto scored 19 off 14.
Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and elected to field.
Bowlers did not take a moment to back his decision. Bangladesh got a dream start as Kiwis were left reeling at 1 for 3 wickets in the second over.
Spinner Mahedi made the early breakthrough in the first over as Tim Seifert departed for a duck. Shoriful carried his red hot form of ODI series to the shortest format of the game as he picked Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips in consecutive deliveries in the second over.
Mahedi picket the wicket of Daryl Mitchell leaving New Zealand 20 for 4 in 4.4 overs.
Shoriful broke the 41-run sixth wicket partnership between James Neesham and captain Mitchell Santner, their highest in the match.
Mustafizur picked the prized wicket of top scorer Neesham who made 48 off 29 balls to leave the Kiwis 110 for 7 in 16.3 over.
The hosts could finally put 134 for nine on the board in 20 overs.
Shoriful Islam picked 3 wickets conceding 26 runs in 4 overs. Mahedi and Mustafizur picket two apiece conceding 14 and 15 runs in their 8 overs.
Mahedi was adjudged player of the match for his all-round performance.
This was Bangladesh's fourth victory over New Zealand in T20s.
Before the match, Tigers played nine T20Is against the Kiwis in New Zealand and overall 11 T20Is in the country without securing any win.
With the win in the first of three-match series, Bangladesh will surely be upbeat to secure the series. The next two matches will be played on 29 and 31 December respectively.
