New Zealand retained their domination and ascendancy over Bangladesh in home conditions to win the opening encounter of the three-match T20I series in Hamilton on Sunday.
The Black Caps, who have shown more resolve and depth across all the departments than their Asian rivals in home conditions, were expected to continue in the same vein and start the T20I series on a winning note. Thus, the result came as no surprise, reflecting the sorry state of affairs for the visitors on this tour.
As it happened, New Zealand won the toss and, with an eye on putting Bangladesh under pressure in the second half, opted to bat first.
Explosive opening batsman Martin Guptill (35), the top run-getter of Kiwis’ previous T20I series versus Australia, provided the early blitz and gave his team a solid start.
Devon Conway, then, batted magnificently for his unbeaten knock of 92 runs off 52 balls. His innings featured 11 fours and three sixes and helped him enhance his New Zealand ranks. Conway now has 458 runs, including four half-centuries, in his T20I career at a fantastic strike-rate of 150.65. That, while maintaining a brilliant average of 65.42.
Debutant Will Young impressed one, and all with a knock of 53 runs off just 30 balls, including two fours and four sixes, an innings that strengthened his claim of a regular place in the side. Young has also played two Tests and two ODIs for his country on the international stage.
Glenn Phillips also blazed his willow for a cameo towards the end of the innings, scoring 24* from only ten balls and helping New Zealand reach a mammoth total of 210/3.
Among Bangladeshi bowlers, debutant Nasum Ahmed was the only bright spot for the day, as he returned to the shed with respectable figures of 2/30 from his four overs. Ahmed got the prized scalp of Guptill, as well as Guptill’s fellow opening batsman Finn Allen (0).
Apart from him, only off-spinner Mahedi Hasan (1/37) could prove slightly economical as the rest of the attack was taken for plenty. Mohammad Saifuddin (0/43), Shoriful Islam (0/50) and even Mustafizur Rahman (0/48) were left hopeless against the Kiwi onslaught on a flat pitch.
In the run-chase, Bangladesh caved under the pressure of the asking rate as they could manage a score of only 144/8 off their allotted 20 overs. It was another disappointing and dispirited batting performance from the visitors.
Making his comeback in the T20I side, Afif Hossain (45) finished as the top run-getter for the day among Bangladeshi batsman and was the only positive to come out of the defeat. Mohammad Naim (27) also tried to play the aggressor at the top, while Saifuddin made a run-a-ball 34, but their efforts proved not good enough.
In the absence of Bangladesh’s stalwarts Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Shakib Al Hasan, the onus was on their more experienced batsmen, such as Soumya Sarkar, stand-in skipper Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das. However, they failed to rise to the occasion.
Pacer Lockie Ferguson (2/25) and leg-spinner Ish Sodhi (4/28) were New Zealand’s two stand-out performers with the ball this game. The duo conceded just 53 runs off their eight overs collectively and picked up six wickets. New Zealand’s stand-in captain Tim Southee (1/34) also contributed a wicket towards his team’s cause, while fellow quick Hamish Bennett (1/20) delivered an economical spell in his team’s win.
For his exploits with the bat, Conway was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’.
The second T20I of the three-match series will be played in Napier on Tuesday (March 30).
