04/27/26 11:21:00
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04/27 11:20 CDT Hridoy's half-century leads Bangladesh past New Zealand in T20
series opener
Hridoy's half-century leads Bangladesh past New Zealand in T20 series opener
CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP) --- Tawhid Hridoy's unbeaten 51 led Bangladesh to
victory against New Zealand by six wickets to open their Twenty20 series on
Monday.
Hridoy's 27-ball innings included two fours and three sixes. He shared a 57-run
partnership with wicketkeeper Parvez Hossain and an unbeaten 49 with No. 6
Shamim Hossain to help Bangladesh race to the win with two overs to spare.
New Zealand posted a challenging 182-6, after 51 apiece from Dane Cleaver and
novice opener Katene Clarke, and appeared set for victory as its bowlers
checked Bangladesh's top order to 77-3 in the 11th over.
But Hridoy's calculated aggression helped Bangladesh reach 183-4.
Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, the only holdover from New Zealand's run to the T20
World Cup final last month in India, led the visitor's early charge with 2-40.
Hridoy counterattacked to bring the asking run rate under control with support
from Parvez Hossain, who made 28 off 14 balls, then Shamim Hossain, an unbeaten
31 off 13 balls.
"One hundred and eighty-three is a big total at this ground because the wicket
was not that easy to bat on," Bangladesh captain Liton Das said. "I said we
needed runs in the powerplay ... it makes it easier for the middle order. The
way (Parvez Hossain) Emon, Hridoy, and Shamim batted made it look easy, but it
really wasn't."
New Zealand was put in first and Clarke and Cleaver shared an 88-run stand for
the second wicket until leg-spinner Rishad Hossain removed both of them in
consecutive overs.
That stalled New Zealand's progress, but stand-in captain Nick Kelly steadied
the innings. After a brief interruption due to bad light, Josh Clarkson's late
impetus guided New Zealand to a challenging total.
The three-match series continues on Wednesday in Chattogram.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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