NEW DELHI: New Zealand bounced back from a shaky start to beat Bangladesh by six wickets in the rain-hit third T20 on Saturday to level the three-match series at 1-1. The second game was earlier washed out after Bangladesh won the opening match by six wickets.Chasing a revised target of 103 in 15 overs, New Zealand were in serious trouble at 25-3 after Bangladesh pacer Shoriful Islam tore through the top order. Stand-in captain Nick Kelly also fell soon after, leaving the hosts struggling at 33-4.But Bevon Jacobs turned the game around with a brilliant unbeaten 62 off just 31 balls. His knock included five fours and three sixes as he guided New Zealand to 104-4 in 11.4 overs.Bangladesh skipper Litton Das kept attacking with Shoriful, but Jacobs responded aggressively and smashed him for back-to-back boundaries to shift the momentum. Jacobs reached his fifty in 29 balls and ended the match in style with a boundary and a six. Shoriful still finished with impressive figures of 3-19.
Bangladesh collapsed after rain
Earlier, Bangladesh were asked to bat first but their innings never settled. They had already slumped to 50-3 in 6.4 overs before rain halted play for over two hours, reducing the match to 15 overs per side.After the restart, Bangladesh tried to attack every delivery but the plan failed. They lost their last seven wickets for just 39 runs in 35 balls and were bowled out for 102 in 14.2 overs.Towhid Hridoy top-scored with 33, while Litton Das made 26 and Saif Hassan added 16. No other batsman could reach the double.Josh Clarkson bowled for New Zealand and took a career-best 3-9 in two overs. Ben Sears and Nathan Smith took two wickets each, while Ish Sodhi claimed one wicket to become New Zealand’s T20I wicket-taker with 165, surpassing Tim Southee’s 164.
