Bangladesh defeated New Zealand in the first T20I match of the three-match series on Wednesday at McLean Park to register their maiden T20I victory against the Black Caps.
Deciding to bowl, Bangladesh restricted New Zealand to 134/9 in 20 overs with Shoriful Islam returning with three wickets followed by Mahedi Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman claiming two wickets each. Tanzim Hasan took one wicket. For New Zealand, their top four batters in the form of Finn Allen (1), Tim Seifert (0), Daryl Mitchell (14) and Glenn Phillips (0) lost their wickets cheaply. James Neesham and Mitchell Santner scored (48) and (23) to guide the side to a below-par total of 134.
Chasing the target, Bangladesh won the game by five wickets with eight balls to spare as they scored 137/5 in 18.4 overs. Opener Liton Das remained unbeaten on (42) to power the side to a historic win. Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto also made their contributions with scores of (22) and (19) respectively. Throughout the match, Bangladesh remained on top.