This was Bangladesh’s first Twenty20 win on New Zealand soil<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2013 Bangladesh claimed an historic five-wicket win over New Zealand on Wednesday after their seamers ran riot in the opening game of their three-match Twenty20 series on Wednesday in Napier.<\/p>\n
This was Bangladesh’s first Twenty20 win on New Zealand soil, four days after also claiming a maiden away one-day international win over the Black Caps in Napier.<\/p>\n
Asked to bat by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, New Zealand made a disastrous start losing three wickets before reaching 134 for nine after their 20 overs.<\/p>\n
The Black Caps bowlers gave home fans hope with the early wickets of Bangladesh opener Rony Talukdar and Shanto.<\/p>\n
Veteran Litton Das partnered up with Soumya Sarkar, then Towhid Hridoy to steer Bangladesh to 96-4 after 13 overs.<\/p>\n
The visitors were wobbling at 97-5 as they lost wickets in quick succession after Afif Hossain was caught for one run in six balls.<\/p>\n
Das, who finished on 42 not out, survived two close calls as he battled cramp.<\/p>\n
The on-field umpire gave him out lbw on Tim Southee’s bowling, but the Bangladesh opener stayed at the crease when the review showed the ball would have sailed over the stumps.<\/p>\n
Ish Sodhi then caught Das at the boundary, but stepped onto the boundary rope to give away six runs.<\/p>\n
It fell to Mahedi Hasan, who finished 19 not out, to hit the winning runs in his partnership of 40 with Das with eight balls spare.<\/p>\n
The second and third Twenty20 in Internationals will both be played at Mount Maunganui on Friday, then Sunday.<\/p>\n