Bangladesh won the last breath

Sports Desk: What a great fight - cricket fans did not enjoy! The match was arranged for those who had been burning for so long because they could not watch the mercurial batting of the T20 in Mirpur. There was tension till the last ball in that match. Both Bangladesh and New Zealand had a chance to win. Mahmudullah Riyadh's team had the last laugh in such a breathless fight. The Kiwis lost 4 runs to the Tigers who became irresistible at home.

New Zealand needed 26 runs in the last two overs. 5 wickets in hand. Tom Latham set the wicket with 52 runs off 40 balls. Riyadh handed the ball to Mohammad Saifuddin in the 19th over. Saifuddin reciprocated the captain's confidence, spending only 7 runs in that over. As a result, New Zealand needed 20 in the last over. Mostafizur Rahman, the main bowling weapon of the team, will bowl the last over. Tiger fans therefore took the victory for sure. But there is still a lot of drama left. Mostafiz gave 6 runs in the first 4 balls. But Beamer sat down with the fourth delivery of the over.

Latham got the boundary by putting that 'no' ball in the bat again. 2 then need 6, again free-hit. It could have been a six. However, this Mostafiz gave the next two deliveries with a cool head. Latham put the free-hit ball on the pad and took 2 runs. Mostafiz offstamped the last ball, Latham could not get out of the boundary. Only one run comes. By that time, the joy of victory has started in the Tiger camp. In the second T20 of the series at Sher-e-Bangla, the hosts took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. If they win one of the remaining three matches, they will pocket the series. New Zealand hit the target of 142 runs at the beginning again. Shakib Al Hasan got success with the ball in his hand in the third over of the innings. Rachin Rabindra (10 off 9 balls) was bowled for his short delivery. Another wicket in the next over. This time Sheikh Mehdi was defeated by Tom Blandell (6 off 6 balls) while playing down the wicket. Nurul Hasan Sohan got a lot of time with the ball, it was not difficult to break the stamp. However, Kiwi captain Tom Latham and Will Young put up a good resistance in the third wicket.

In the end, Shakib broke their pair of 43 runs from 48 balls in the eleventh over. When Young (22 off 22 balls) batted in his spin, the ball became an outside edge and went to the third man, Saifuddin took a great catch with a dive. Then another small pair. In the 15th over, Nasum Ahmed broke the tie by returning Colin D Grandhome (6 off 10 balls). Mushfiqur Rahim was caught twice in the deep square leg boundary. One more wicket in the next over. This time Henry Nichols (6) was caught sweeping Sheikh Mehdi. New Zealand lost 5 wickets for 92 runs. On the other hand, the thought of running over the head continues to grow. However, the fight was saved by Kiwi captain Tom Latham. He gave a great innings. But in the end he could not leave the field in the guise of a winner. He remained unbeaten on 65 off 49 balls. New Zealand's innings stopped at 138 for 5 wickets. Sheikh Mehdi was the most successful of the Tiger bowlers.

The offspinner took 2 wickets with only 12 runs in 4 overs. Shakib also had 2 wickets, but spent 29 runs in 4 overs. Nasum got a wicket for 18 runs in 3 overs. Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat. After a great opening pairing of two openers Naeem Sheikh and Liton Das, the Tigers averaged 141 for 7 in Mahmudullah's responsible innings. Naeem-Liton started watching the batting. They have understood the character of the pitch without taking a deadly role. As a result, Bangladesh scored 38 runs without losing any wicket in the first 8 overs power play. Liton was going to play to open his hand after being set on the wicket. In the 10th over, the right-handed batsman hit Kiwi spinner Rachin Rabindra with a 64-meter six over the midwicket in a slog sweep. But in that over he acted like a fool. The stamp breaks by pulling the ball out of the offstamp with a gentle stroke. Liton's 33-run innings with 3 boundaries and a six off 29 balls was the untimely death of the 59-run opening pair. In the next ball, Bangladesh is in danger again. This time Mushfiqur Rahim did not understand the turn and stepped forward, wicketkeeper Tom Latham broke the stamp in an instant.

The batting hope of the Tigers has to return to the Golden Call. Shakib Al Hasan was playing from the beginning. Drive two great boundaries. But he also had to return with 12 off 8 balls. The hosts lost 3 wickets between 59 and 62, 13 runs. From there, Naeem and Mahmudullah scored 34 runs off 26 balls. Rabindra broke the tie by returning Naeem, who equalized the ball to 39 off 3 boundaries. The Tiger opener was caught by Tom Blundell in Longon while clearing the ball. Afif Hossain Dhruv could not last long. The left-arm batsman (3 off 3 balls) was caught in the long on while playing a big shot down the wicket. However, captain Mahmudullah played like the captain. He has batted till the last over with responsibility. Nurul Hasan Sohan was with him.

The Tigers went up to 141 in their pair of 32 runs from 22 balls. Sohan was dismissed for 13 off 9 balls at the end of the innings. Mahmudullah remained unbeaten on 37 off 32 balls with five boundaries. The most successful left-arm spinner among the Kiwi bowlers is Rachin Rabindra. He took 3 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs.