Kiwis win the rain-stricken match, seal the series

An all-round bowling performance from New Zealand neutralised the effect of Soumya Sarkar’s fighting half-century and helped the Kiwis register an easy win over Bangladesh in the second T20I on Tuesday.

Skipper Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett, and Adam Milne all picked two wickets each to restrict Bangladesh to 142/7 in 16 overs. With this win, the Kiwis took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20I series. Glenn Phillips had played an unbeaten knock of 58 runs as New Zealand scored 173/5 in 17.5 overs. Rain played spoilsport in the first innings and after the DLS method, Bangladesh was given a target of 170 in 16 overs.

Chasing 170 runs, Bangladesh did not have a good start but Soumya Sarkar took on the New Zealand bowlers. The left-handed batsman single-handedly steered the visitors over the 50-run mark before the completion of powerplay.

While opener Liton Das went cheaply (6), Mohammad Naim played a sluggish T20 knock-in pursuit of 170 runs. However, Soumya continued his onslaught and fired Bangladesh to 85/1 in the nine overs.

Bangladesh needed 85 runs in the last seven overs and Soumya, who smashed his half-century in just 25 balls, was caught at long-on while trying to clear the rope.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 173/5 (Glenn Phillips 58*(31), Daryl Mitchell 34*(16), Mahedi Hasan 2-45); Bangladesh 142/7 (Soumya Sarkar 51*(27), Mohammad Naim 38(35); Tim Southee 2-21).