MOUNT MAUNGANUI, DECEMBER 31
Mitchell Santner and Jimmy Neesham combined in a 46-run partnership which steered New Zealand to a 17 run win over Bangladesh under the Duckworth-Lewis system in the third Twenty20 international on Sunday, dashing the Tigers' hopes of their first series win in New Zealand.
Captain Santner and Neesham provided the cool heads New Zealand needed to overcome another top-order collapse and chase down Bangladesh's inadequate total of only 110 in a race against encroaching dark clouds and rain.
New Zealand was in desperate trouble at 49-5 in the ninth over, trailing under the Duckworth-Lewis system when Neesham and Santner came together. They stayed together and guided New Zealand to 95-5 in the 15th over when the forecast rain arrived torrentially and brought the match to an abrupt end.
"I think we always knew there was going to be a bit of rain around whether it came at the end of halfway through that second innings," Santner said. "The bowlers did the job up front and it was good to get across the line in a pretty hard-fought series."
In extraordinary scenes, spectators dashed for the exits of Bay Oval as the rain pelted down, driven by strong winds. New Zealand needed 78 runs to be ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis calculation.
Sunday's win leveled the three-match series at 1-1 after Bangladesh won the first match by five wickets and after the second match at Bay Oval was washed out after 11 overs.
But New Zealand can no longer turn a blind eye to the failings of its top order in the ongoing absence of Kane Williamson and Devon Conway. Bangladesh may have lost the three-match one-day international series and shared the T20 series, but it achieved its first wins in New Zealand in both formats.
In the third ODI, New Zealand was reduced to 70-6 and in the first T20 it was 50-5 as its top batters failed to master the Bangladesh attack. The latest collapse seemed both inevitable and at times comical.
Santner excelled as New Zealand bowled out Bangladesh for only 110 in 19.2 overs after winning the toss. Bangladesh lost three wickets for 45 runs in the power play then was bogged down in the middle overs, scoring only 32 between the seventh and 16th overs.
Najmul Hossain Shanto's 17 from 15 balls was the top score. Four other batsmen reached double figures, including Towhid Hridoy who made 16 from 18 balls.
Santner was particularly effective in the middle stages and there was enough grass on the pitch at Bay Oval for the ball to grip and turn a little. Santner took 4-16 from his four overs while the seamers Tim Southee, Adam Mile and Ben Sears shared six wickets.
"Bowling into the wind can be challenging at times but I was thinking of changing the pace and trying to get a bit of bounce out of the wicket," Santner said. "As a whole the seamers bowled extremely well as well to keep them to 110 on a pretty good pitch."
Santner surprised a little when he chose to field on winning the toss. Bay Oval usually is a bat-first pitch with an average first innings score of 190. But with rain forecast, bowling gave New Zealand some control. In the end it was decisive and New Zealand became the first team to win a T20 at Bay Oval when batting second.
But, matching the forecast, New Zealand made heavy weather of an apparently easy run chase.
Tim Seifert fell in the second over, then Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman fell in quick succession. All four batsmen were out for 1.
Chapman's dismissal had an element of the comic as he collided with Finn Allen in mid-pitch as Allen crossed over and ran down the wrong side of the wicket. Chapman had no hope of making his ground. Allen made 38 from 31 balls but might not have fully atoned for Chapman's dismissal.
When Allen missed a straight ball and was bowled by Shoriful Islam in the ninth over, New Zealand was in deep trouble. But Neesham and Santner had the composure to get the run chase done.
Shanto made a tactical blunder when he bowled himself in the 10th over and the Kiwi pair plundered 14 runs from his part-time off breaks to move ahead on the Duckworth Lewis tally.
