Nahid Rana’s five-wicket haul followed by Tanzid Hasan’s  fiery half-century got Bangladesh a six-wicket win against New Zealand. The home side leveled the ODI series, setting up the decider in Chattogram on Thursday.

It was a much-needed contribution from the Bangladesh batters, who were criticised for losing the first game by 26 runs. This time, the bowlers blew a hole through New Zealand’s top and middle orders, with Rana taking 5 for 32, his second five-for in ODIs, before the batters got them home in 35.3 overs.

Bangladesh’s chase, however, began with uncertainty once again. Nathan Smith burst through Saif Hassan with an excellent inswinger in the first over. Soumya Sarkar, drafted into the playing XI to replace Afif Hossain, fell after making eight runs. He struck Will O’Rourke for a six but New Zealand captain Tom Latham kept the three slips as he urged O’Rourke to keep bowling bouncers.

Soumya fell into the trap, when his attempted glide with a vertical bat, only reached Dean Foxcroft at third slip. Tanzid retaliated almost immediately, hitting Smith for two sixes in the fifth over. The first was over long-on, the next over midwicket with a lovely flick.

Tanzid reached his fifty with his third six, slog sweeping Foxcroft over midwicket in the 15th over. He took just 33 balls to reach his sixth half-century in ODIs.

Najimul Hossain Shanto,  who made a golden duck in the first game, was more of his dominant self, complementing Tanzid’s efforts in their third-wicket partnership. Shanto struck Foxcroft’s half-tracker for six in the 17th over, before launching Jayden Lennox over long-off for a similar result.

Tanzid was racing towards a big score, hammering Lennox for his fourth six in the 23rd over. But the left-arm spinner had the last laugh the very next ball as Tanzid top-edged a hoick across the line for Henry Nicholls to take a steepling catch tracking back at cover. It ended a 120-run third wicket stand.

Litton Das, playing his 100th ODI, couldn’t add much to the total, when Lennox had him caught off a slog in his next over. Shanto hobbled off the field after completing his fifty due to cramps.

Towhid Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz added 32 to complete the chase. Hridoy made an unbeaten 30 off 31 balls with five fours, while Mehidy struck the winning run in the 36th over.

Rana had earlier dominated the New Zealand batting line-up whenever captain Mehidy handed him the ball. He took the first two wickets: Henry Nicholls, New Zealand’s top scorer from the first game, trapped lbw, before a 146kph bouncer got Will Young. Rana got the ball to rear into the No 3 batter, who could only guide it to gully where Soumya took an easy catch.

Nick Kelly found Muhammad Abbas as a willing ally, as the pair rebuild the New Zealand innings in the middle overs. Abbas broke the boundary drought of 33 balls, when he edged Soumya to deep third in the 20th over. Kelly struck another bookended the over with another four before driving Mehidy Hasan Miraz through cover in the following over.

Kelly then laid into Taskin Ahmed, driving him down the ground and clipping him over midwicket among his three fours in the 25th over. Kelly soon reached his fifty in the 27th over, before Rana, brought back into the attack, removed Abbas. Wicketkeeper Litton ran quite a distance towards fine-leg, where he dived to complete a brilliant catch. Litton had earlier taken a fine tumbling catch to remove Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain, off Soumya’s bowling

Kelly started to apply himself as a more aggressive batter. He moved a lot around the crease, even getting hit on his visor when he tried to hook Shoriful Islam’s length ball in the 35th over. He fell to the same bowler in his next over, caught at midwicket for 83.

Bangladesh’s fielders contributed to their good showing. Towhid Hridoy took three catches including a superb effort at long-on to end the New Zealand innings.

Rana added two more to his kitty in the death overs, removing Dean Foxcroft for 15, before yorking Jayden Lennox for a duck. Rana’s five wickets apart, Shoriful Islam took two wickets while Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Soumya took a wicket each.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 199 for 4 in 35.3 overs (Tanzid Hasan 76, Najmul Hossain Shanto 50 retd, Towhid Hridoy 30*; Jayden Lennox 2-36) beat New Zealand 198 in 48.4 overs (Nick Kelly 83;  Nahid Rana 5-32,  Shoriful Islam 2-32) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

In a significant milestone for cricket in the UAE, five players – Khuzaima Tanveer, Ajay Kumar, Akshdeep Nath, Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Adeeb Usmani  – have become the first cricketers to be granted UAE citizenship through naturalisation. They are part of the 17 member squad currently in Nepal for two T20Is and an ODI tri-series.

While football, rugby and judo have had players who received UAE citizenship following a presidential decree in 2018, cricket in the UAE has largely been played by expatriates who qualify to represent the country by satisfying the ICC’s eligibility criteria of having resided in the country for three years. Now, these five cricketers can play for the UAE by virtue of being citizens of the country and possessing a passport.

“From the day I landed in the UAE, it was my dream to represent the country at the international level,” Kumar told The National. “Now I am getting this chance and all thanks to UAE, the support staff, and I have really been helped by playing domestic and club level cricket. “They have been looking after us really well. The management has been supportive throughout the whole journey. I am grateful to the board and all the cricket fraternity. I am really excited to represent this country and do well for them.”

Khuzaima said he was “grateful” for the opportunity to play for the UAE. “If you get this opportunity to represent your country, it is a feeling that is out of this world for any player.

“The country is trusting you and giving you this chance, so I think you are the lucky one. I have played UAE domestic cricket for the past three years and have played the past two seasons of ILT20 and Abu Dhabi T10.

“It has been a great experience to play with international players. Now I have this opportunity to play for UAE. I am very grateful to the Emirates Cricket Board for supporting me.”

[Cricinfo]