NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner took four wickets before a rearguard batting effort helped the hosts beat Bangladesh by 17 runs via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method in the rain-hit third and final Twenty20 international on Sunday to level the series.

Santner elected to bowl after winning the toss and took 4-16 to help dismiss Bangladesh for a modest 110 at Mount Maunganui, leaving the tourists with a daunting task to seal their maiden series victory of any kind in New Zealand. New Zealand collapsed to 49-5 in response after Mahedi Hasan and Shoriful Islam struck timely blows, but Santner (18 not out) and Jimmy Neesham (28 not out) held their nerve to take them to within 16 runs of victory when heavy rain halted play.

New Zealand were ahead of the DLS par score of 78 at that stage before the game was eventually called off.

Bangladesh sealed a five-wicket win in the series opener in Napier on Wednesday for their first T20 win on New Zealand soil, four days after beating the hosts in the last game of the three-match one-day international series which they lost 2-1. The second T20 was washed out with no result. The series was part of both teams' preparations for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States in June next year.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 01 2024

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