Hridoy Scripts Bangladesh Victory in 1st T20 Against NZ

BSS

Publish : 28 Apr 2026, 09:21 AM

Photo: Collected

Middle-order batter Towhid Hridoy struck a sublime half-century to help Bangladesh romp to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the opening T20 International and hand the hosts a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at Bir Shrestha Shaheed Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium today.

Chasing 183, Bangladesh rode on Hridoy's calculated aggression to reach 183-4 in just 18 overs, negating New Zealand's competitive total of 182-6 built around identical 51 from Dane Cleaver and Katene Clarke.

Hridoy remained unbeaten on 51 off 27 balls, hitting two fours and three sixes. He stitched together two crucial partnerships-57 runs with Parvez Hossain Emon for the fourth wicket and an unbroken 49 with Shamim Patwari for the fifth-to steer the side home comfortably.

Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, the only member in New Zealand's squad for Bangladesh series from their World Cup campaign led the side's bowling effort with 2-40, helping reduce the hosts to 77-3 in the 11th over and briefly raising hopes of a comeback.

However, Hridoy's counterattack, aided initially by Emon's brisk 28 off 14 balls and later by Patwari's unbeaten 31 off 13, brought the required rate under control.

Earlier, Clarke and Cleaver shared an 88-run stand for the second wicket after opener Tim Robinson was run out for a duck in the second over following Bangladesh captain Liton Das had New Zealand put into bat first.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain who was the stand out bowler for Bangladesh, claiming 2-32, removed both of the set batters in consecutive overs to stall the progress.

Bangladesh's pace trio of Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and debutant Ripon Mondol were initially wayward but pulled things back after the breakthrough. Tanzim dismissed Bevin Jacobs to leave the visitors under pressure.

Stand-in captain Nick Kelly, leading in the absence of injured Tom Latham, steadied the innings before a brief interruption due to bad light.

Following the break, Josh Clarkson provided late impetus with an unbeaten 27 off 14 balls to guide New Zealand to a challenging total.

Despite the late surge, New Zealand's total proved insufficient as Hridoy's composed yet aggressive knock sealed a commanding win for Bangladesh.

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