Latham's 65* not enough for spirited New Zealand

A fighting New Zealand side lifted themselves from the pits of 60 all out a couple of days ago to nearly stun Bangladesh. They needed six off the last ball but managed just a single as Bangladesh continued their wonderful run of wins - their sixth in seven games.

In pursuit of a stiff 142 on another slow and turning pitch, captain Tom Latham tried seeing his side home with an unbeaten 65 off 49, but with lack of experience at the other end combined with the lack of pace offered by the Bangladesh quicks meant they fell short.

New Zealand needed 36 from 18, 20 off the last over and 13 off two balls when Mustafizur Rahman delivered a beamer that Latham edged for four. This brought the equation to eight off two with a free hit to come. Rahman then sent down two deliveries that didn't have any length or room to work with, and all Latham could manage was three runs off them.

An unchanged Bangladesh batted first on a track that turned from ball one again. They were set up first by an opening stand of 59 between Mohammad Naim and Liton Das and later by an unbeaten 37 off 32 from captain Mahmudullah. The New Zealand spinners couldn't quite apply the pressure early on like they did two days ago, but Rachin Ravindra's 3 for 22, which accounted for the top three, meant the hosts didn't run away to a 150-plus total.

Captain Latham promoted himself to No. 3 and dropped anchor once they were 18 for 2. He knew attacking was no good on a turning pitch, so the best chance was to take the game deep and try and hit out in the end. And he did exactly that. He first stitched a steady 43-run stand for the third wicket with Will Young. He looked content by going just over run a ball until the 14th over to take them to 85 for 3.

When he slog-swept a slower delivery from Mohammad Saifuddin for six to bring the equation to 57 from 36, Bangladesh were still on top. New Zealand lost two more wickets in the next two overs to spinners, but Latham found boundaries in each of the last four overs to make sure the equation didn't go completely out of hand.

He lofted Shakib Al Hasan over the covers, heaved Mustafizur wide of long-on, ramped Saifuddin over the keeper, and expertly edged a beamer from Mustafizur in the last over. But when it came to the last two balls of the match against the wily Mustafizur, Latham couldn't get the deliveries away that were right on the money.

New Zealand's most experienced batter in the squad gave them an unlikely chance of winning and the result might have been different had he found some support at the other end. Apart from Young's 22 off 28, they all crumbled against spin again.

A nervy Ravindra struck Shakib for a straight six but was bowled next ball for 10, Tom Blundell was stumped for 6 when he charged down against a straighter one from Mahedi Hasan, and Young sliced one to short third man off Shakib. Colin de Grandhomme scored eight off his first nine balls but fell as soon as he took the aerial route, handing a catch to deep backward square leg and Henry Nicholls top-edged his fifth ball.

New Zealand will still take a lot from this game, having taken a full-strength Bangladesh to the last ball, and not looking as clueless as they did in the first game, or like Australia last month.

After 13 wickets fell in under 27 overs in the opening game, Liton and Naim gave the hosts a wicketless powerplay after eight T20I innings. New Zealand started with spinners again, but a circumspect Naim and a risk-taking Liton set a strong base with 36 in the powerplay. Liton was even given a life on 0 in the second over when de Grandhomme put down a sitter at square leg and Liton continued to find leading edges, also collecting two fours off Ajaz Patel in the next over to kickstart the innings.

Ravindra was brought into the attack late compared to the other spinners and he was smoked over midwicket for a six in the 10th over by Liton. But the left-arm spinner struck two balls later when Liton chopped on in strange fashion by going across to turn a delivery from well outside off to leg, only to deflect it onto his stumps.

Ravindra handed the hosts another blow as he deceived the promoted Mushfiqur Rahim in flight as Latham effected a smart stumping. Rahim was out for a golden duck. On a hat-trick by then, he nearly had Shakib first ball when he almost chipped a return catch. Shakib then counterattacked for two quick fours but went after one too many and holed out to long-off to leave the hosts on 72 for 3.

Mahmudullah and Naim steered them to the death overs in which Ravindra got his third and Ajaz his first when both Naim and Afif Hossain found long-on in a bid to accelerate. The captain came to the rescue to post a competitive total by using Doug Bracewell's pace. Mahmudullah struck two fours in an over twice against Bracewell, in the 15th and 19th overs, and collected another 11 in the last over with Nurul Hasan off Hamish Bennett.