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BAN vs NZ | 2nd T20I: Mustafizur Rahman keeps calm to win humdinger at Dhaka for Bangladesh

With 20 runs needed off the last ball and Mustafizur Rahman bowling it, he would be backed against even the best in the business. Only this time though, the Fizz was bowling against two players not rated so highly for their T20 attributes, Tom Latham and newbie Cole McConchie. Thus it was more or less confirmed that he would win this for Bangladesh, the first four balls went according to plan as well as the cutter master gave away only seven runs and now 13 runs were needed for a win off the last two balls. 

What transpired after that was unbelievable. Fizz bowled a slow ball beamer which went four a four after hitting a raised bat of Latham. The Kiwi captain, who by then had hit 64 runs off 48 balls was backing himself to land the free hit into the boundary as now eight runs were required to get from two balls, one of which was to be a free hit. 

Fizz however had other ideas as he made a strong comeback after the lapse as he bowled a toe crushing yorker to Latham on the free hit which resulted in two leg byes. With six needed off the last ball, Fizz bowled yet another ball in the blockhole which could only be drilled to sweeper square leg for a single. And thus Bangladesh won the second T20I to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. 

The Kiwi chase had not got off to a great start as the first two wickets were lost off 18 runs in the first four overs only. Lathan then teamed up with a comparatively experienced Will Young as the duo added  43 runs to give some semblance to the chase. While Young was removed by Shakib Al Hasan, Latham carried on making meaningful partnerships with Colin de Grandhomme, Henry Nicholls and McConchie respectively to get closer to the target. 

Shakib and Mahedi Hasan picked two wickets each for Bangladesh. 

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first. Courtesy of a 59 run opening stand where both Liton Das and Mohammad Naim went past 30 for their individual scores, the Tigers managed to get a good start. Although big guns like Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim didn’t fire, skipper Mahmudullah and Nurul Hasan with their 32 run partnership off 22 balls managed to get the green brigade to 141 in their 20 overs. Mahmudulah top-scored with 37 from 32 balls.

Rachin Ravindra was the pick of the bowlers for Ne Zealand as he took three wickets for 22 runs in his four-over spell. 

The two teams will now come back on Sunday, 05th September to play the third match at the same venue of Sher-E-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.

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Some decisions are life-changing: Mortaza praises Tamim Iqbal for opting out of World Cup

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