Colin Munro and Anton Devcich hit half centuries and Tim Southee grabbed three wickets as New Zealand ended their Bangladesh tour with a 15-run victory in the Twenty20 match in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Munro remained unbeaten on 73 off 39 deliveries after debutant Devcich had smashed 59 off 31 deliveries to lift the Black Caps to 204-5, their second-highest total in Twenty20 cricket behind the 214-6 they hit against Australia in 2010.
The tourists, beaten in all three one-day internationals (ODI) after a drawn two-Test series, restricted Bangladesh to 189-9 in front of about 35,000 disappointed home fans at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Set a target that required more than 10 runs an over, Bangladesh made a shaky start when they lost three wickets in the first two overs for 19 runs.
Southee, who finished with three-for-38, dismissed openers Shamsur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman in the first over, before Mitchell McClenaghan removed Mominul Haque in the second.
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Nasir Hossain attempted to retrieve the situation, but their dismissals in successive overs sent Bangladesh reeling.
Mushfiqur fell to Corey Anderson after making 50 off 29 deliveries, his maiden Twenty20 half-century, which contained seven fours and a six.
Nathan McCullum took a brilliant return catch in the next over to dismiss Nasir for 28 off 20 deliveries.
Munro, a 26-year old left-hander, hit three fours and five sixes for the Black Caps, as he built on the 10 boundaries and a six hit by Devcich.
“I think in the first innings, we batted very well,” said Kyle Mills, who led the tourists in the absence of the injured Brendon McCullum.
“Our opening with Devcich really took the game by the scruff of the neck, and then Ross Taylor [28] and Munro crafted beautiful innings. If you put a decent total on the board like 200, you’re reasonably confident at the halfway mark,” he said.
Bangladesh were left to rue shoddy catching after debutant al-Amin Hossain dropped Devcich, who was then on six, in Mashrafe Mortaza’s first over.
Al-Amin made some amends for his drop, grabbing two wickets in the final over to finish with 2-31 in his four overs.
“We lost the match because we could not bowl according to our plans, especially in the powerplay overs,” Mushfiqur said. “We gave 20 extra runs and that cost us the game. If we could have restricted them to 180 to 185 runs, it could have been a different ball game.”
New Zealand now travel to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals starting on Sunday.
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