Latham, Allen help New Zealand earn consolation T20 win

Dhaka - Bangladesh faltered in their chase despite an unbeaten 49 by Afif Hossain

Skipper Tom Latham and Finn Allen hit attacking knocks to set up a 27-run consolation win for New Zealand in the fifth Twenty20 international against Bangladesh on Friday.

Latham’s unbeaten 50 and a 24-ball 41 by Allen guided New Zealand to 161 for five after electing to bat first in Dhaka.

The Kiwi bowlers kept down Bangladesh to 134-8 in 20 overs but the hosts took the five-match series 3-2.

Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel and pace bowler Scott Kuggeleijn took two wickets each as Bangladesh faltered in their chase despite an unbeaten 49 by Afif Hossain.

“Great to finish this leg of the tour on a high,” Latham, who was named man of the match, said after the win.

“The way we were able to piece it all together was (pleasing). We put up close to a perfect performance, took all the learnings from the previous games.”

Latham, a left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman, stood out with his second half-century of the series after Allen’s blitz to take the attack to the opposition bowlers.

Bangladesh were in trouble at 46-4 before Hossain and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad put on 63 runs for the fifth wicket to raise Bangladesh’s hopes of chasing down their target of 162.

Kuggeleijn broke the stand with Mahmudullah’s wicket and Patel trapped Nurul Hasan lbw for four to flatten the Bangladesh batting.

Kuggeleijn finished with 2-23 while Patel returned figures of 2-21 from his four overs.

“Would’ve liked to win today but I think New Zealand batted really well, we didn’t chase well but happy to win the series,” Mahmudullah said in praise of the opposition.

Bangladesh came into the game knowing the series was already in the bag thanks their six-wicket in the fourth match on Wednesday.