Tigers make history with first T20 victory in New Zealand

After snapping losing streak in Test and ODI format, Bangladesh aimed to break the deadlock in T20 on New Zealand soil. Team Tigers achieved the goal as they beat the hosts by 5 wickets in three-match series opener at McLean Park in Napier on Wednesday.

This is Bangladesh's first-ever T20I victory in New Zealand. The Tigers reached the target of 135 runs with 8 balls remaining.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto invited the host to bat. It was another excellent performance by the Bangladeshi bowlers. New Zealand were rattled early after being put into bat, getting reduced to 20/4, and it was hard to come back from there despite a good recovery from James Neesham.

Neesham played an innings of 48 off just 29 balls while acting captain Mitchell Santner made 23. For Bangladesh, Shoriful Islam captured three wickets for 26 runs. Mahedi Hasan and Mustafizur took two wicktes each.

The target of 135 looked briefly tricky for Bangladesh, but opener Litton Das held his nerve to anchor the chase and helped Bangladesh take a 1-0 lead. Litton was the watchful Bangladesh batter as he saw his batting partners getting starts and losing their wickets prematurely, but once the No. 7 Mahedi Hasan joined him, Litton took no further chances and turbocharged from 29 in 32 balls to finish with an unbeaten 36-ball 42. Soumya Sarkar contributed with 22 runs. Both Shanto and Towhid Hridoy made 19 runs.

Mahedi hit the winning shot for four and remained unbeaten at 19 runs. He was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round performance.