New Zealand 104 for 4 (Jacobs 62*, Robinson 23, Shoriful 3-19) beat Bangladesh 102 (Hridoy 33, Clarkson 3-9, Sears 2-12) by six wickets (DLS method)
Bevon Jacobs' cracking unbeaten 62 took New Zealand to a six-wicket win against Bangladesh in the third T20I. The win in the rain-affected match in Dhaka ensured the three-match series was levelled 1-1 after the second game was rained out.
On Saturday, rain interrupted the Bangladesh innings for nearly two hours after it came down hard at 2.37pm local time. Play resumed at 4.30pm, and the match was reduced to 15 overs per side.
New Zealand, however, bowled Bangladesh out for 102 in the 15th over, with Josh Clarkson taking 3 for 9. Later, it was Jacobs who struck 62 off 31 balls, including five fours and three sixes, to get them home with 20 balls to spare.
Shoriful's burst offers hope
Shoriful Islam gave Bangladesh a stunning start in their defense. He bowled a teasing outswinger with his second ball, that Katene Clarke couldn't help but chase, thus edging to wicketkeeper Litton Das for 1. Shoriful rounded up the first over with Dane Cleaver's wicket, also caught behind - this time off the inside edge.
Tim Robinson looked promising at the other end, crashing Ripon Mondol for a sweetly timed four and a brutally struck six over point, but he fell trying to slog Shoriful in the fourth over. Mahedi Hasan got into the act too, when he bowled captain Nick Kelly for one.
Jacobs takes visitors home
Jacobs went after Shoriful in his last over, striking him for two fours through midwicket, before Dean Foxcroft swung him down the ground for a third boundary. Jacobs struck Rishad Hossain through midwicket soon after, before Mondol was sent high over mid-off for a six.
Jacobs reached his fifty with a six off Rishad's next over. Parvez Hossain Emon could have taken a catch at long-on, but instead punched it over for the maximum. Jacobs then slammed a straight boundary, before slog-sweeping Rishad for a six over midwicket to complete the chase with a sequence of 6, 4, 6.
Smith dominates before rain
Before the rain, Nathan Smith gave New Zealand a solid start with two wickets off consecutive deliveries in the fifth over. Smith burst through Tanzid Hasan with a delivery that held its line as Tanzid went for a heave across the line. Next ball, Parvez Hossain's upper cut was poorly timed, as it lobbed towards Ish Sodhi at short third.
Before the double strike, left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox became the third New Zealander to take a wicket with his first ball in T20Is. On debut, Lennox outfoxed Saif Hassan into giving a simple catch to Robinson at cover. Before Lennox did on Saturday, Lockie Ferguson and Cole McConchie had taken wickets with their first ball on debut.
Clarkson leads collapse
When play resumed after a lengthy rain break, Clarkson removed Litton, who was caught at the deep-cover boundary after he made 26 off 17 balls. Towhid Hridoy survived a run-out chance in the next over when wicketkeeper Cleaver dislodged the stumps before the throw came in from the point fielder, with Hridoy stranded outside the crease.
Bangladesh's luck, however, ran out soon, when Sodhi removed Shamim Hossain in the 12th over. Clarkson dismissed Hridoy and Mohammad Saifuddin off consecutive balls in the next over. Robinson took a great low catch, about which he was unsure of initially; he eventually finished with three catches in the innings,the most by a New Zealand outfielder in Bangladesh.
Rishad was run out trying to complete a second, before Ben Sears, fresh off the plane from the PSL, bowled Shoriful and Mondol early in the last over.
