221/10 (48.3)
CRR : 4.56
247/8 (50.0)
CRR : 4.94
New Zealand won by 26 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Player
1/2559(58)
Over 49
Bangladesh 221/10
Towhid Hridoy55(60)
Nahid Rana0(3)
Nathan Smith3-45(9.3)
NZ won by 26 runs
7:04 PM IST, 7:34 PM LOCAL TIME: Some victories are built in silence, then announced with thunder. New Zealand whispered early, roared late, and now lead the series 1-0. New Zealand have defeated Bangladesh by 26 runs in the first ODI at Mirpur, defending 247/8 and bowling Bangladesh out for 221 in 48.3 overs. Was 247 enough? On this surface, yes. Was it comfortable? Not until the last burst. New Zealand had fifties from Henry Nicholls (68) and Dean Foxcroft (59), then their seamers slammed the door. Bangladesh had starts, partnerships, hope... and then a collapse. Series score now reads 1-0.
How did New Zealand begin? Slowly. Like a car warming up on a winter morning. They were only 38/1 after the first 10 overs, with Nick Kelly falling for 7 to Shoriful Islam at 21/1 in 6.3 overs. Bangladesh’s new-ball pair of Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful kept things tight. But one man refused to panic. Nicholls kept nudging, threading gaps, collecting boundaries. At drinks, New Zealand were 55/1 in 14 overs. Nothing flashy. Everything useful.
The middle overs? Nicholls and Will Young first, with a 73-run second-wicket stand. Young made 30 off 42, and New Zealand crossed 100 in 22.2 overs. Nicholls reached his fifty off 65 balls, textbook patience with 7 fours. But Bangladesh hit back smartly. Rishad Hossain removed Young and later Nicholls, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled Tom Latham. Suddenly, from 127/2, it became 131/4 in 27.5 overs. The match tilted again.
Then came the rescue act. Enter Foxcroft. Calm head. Busy bat. He made 59 off 58, striking 8 fours, and rebuilt with Muhammad Abbas, then later with Nathan Smith. New Zealand reached 150 in 31.3 overs and 200 in 43.3 overs. The final Powerplay brought 62 runs for 3 wickets, exactly the push they needed. Smith’s unbeaten 21 off 22 mattered too. Bangladesh kept taking wickets, with Taskin finishing 2/50, Shoriful 2/27, Rishad 2/44, but 247 had become a proper contest total.
What about Bangladesh’s chase? Chaotic start. They reached 51/2 in the first 10 overs, but that number hides the drama. Tanzid Hasan fell for 2, then Najmul Hossain Shanto was out for a duck one ball later, both to Nathan Smith. Yet Bangladesh stayed alive because Saif Hassan and Litton Das repaired things beautifully. They added 93 runs for the third wicket. Saif reached 50 off 59 balls, finishing with 57, while Litton made 46. At 124/3 in 25 overs, the hosts had the upper hand.
Then why did they lose? Pressure. Dot balls. Wickets. And a Kiwi ambush. Towhid Hridoy fought with 55 off 60, and with Afif Hossain added 52 for the fifth wicket. Bangladesh were 181/4 after 40 overs. Needed 67 off 60. Game on. Then Powerplay 3 became New Zealand’s playground, where Bangladesh scored only 40 runs and lost 6 wickets. Tickner tore through the tail with 4/40, Smith had 3/45, Lennox and Foxcroft chipped in. From 184/4, they crashed to 221 all out. That escalated quickly.
How did New Zealand begin? Slowly. Like a car warming up on a winter morning. They were only 38/1 after the first 10 overs, with Nick Kelly falling for 7 to Shoriful Islam at 21/1 in 6.3 overs. Bangladesh’s new-ball pair of Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful kept things tight. But one man refused to panic. Nicholls kept nudging, threading gaps, collecting boundaries. At drinks, New Zealand were 55/1 in 14 overs. Nothing flashy. Everything useful.
The middle overs? Nicholls and Will Young first, with a 73-run second-wicket stand. Young made 30 off 42, and New Zealand crossed 100 in 22.2 overs. Nicholls reached his fifty off 65 balls, textbook patience with 7 fours. But Bangladesh hit back smartly. Rishad Hossain removed Young and later Nicholls, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled Tom Latham. Suddenly, from 127/2, it became 131/4 in 27.5 overs. The match tilted again.
Then came the rescue act. Enter Foxcroft. Calm head. Busy bat. He made 59 off 58, striking 8 fours, and rebuilt with Muhammad Abbas, then later with Nathan Smith. New Zealand reached 150 in 31.3 overs and 200 in 43.3 overs. The final Powerplay brought 62 runs for 3 wickets, exactly the push they needed. Smith’s unbeaten 21 off 22 mattered too. Bangladesh kept taking wickets, with Taskin finishing 2/50, Shoriful 2/27, Rishad 2/44, but 247 had become a proper contest total.
What about Bangladesh’s chase? Chaotic start. They reached 51/2 in the first 10 overs, but that number hides the drama. Tanzid Hasan fell for 2, then Najmul Hossain Shanto was out for a duck one ball later, both to Nathan Smith. Yet Bangladesh stayed alive because Saif Hassan and Litton Das repaired things beautifully. They added 93 runs for the third wicket. Saif reached 50 off 59 balls, finishing with 57, while Litton made 46. At 124/3 in 25 overs, the hosts had the upper hand.
Then why did they lose? Pressure. Dot balls. Wickets. And a Kiwi ambush. Towhid Hridoy fought with 55 off 60, and with Afif Hossain added 52 for the fifth wicket. Bangladesh were 181/4 after 40 overs. Needed 67 off 60. Game on. Then Powerplay 3 became New Zealand’s playground, where Bangladesh scored only 40 runs and lost 6 wickets. Tickner tore through the tail with 4/40, Smith had 3/45, Lennox and Foxcroft chipped in. From 184/4, they crashed to 221 all out. That escalated quickly.
Best Bowling Figures for Blair Tickner in ODIs:
4/34 vs England, Hamilton, 2025
4/40 vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 2026 (Today)*
4/50 vs Netherlands, Mount Maunganui, 2022
4/34 vs England, Hamilton, 2025
4/40 vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 2026 (Today)*
4/50 vs Netherlands, Mount Maunganui, 2022
Time for post-match presentations...
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Bangladesh Captain): "(On restricting NZ at 247 in 1st innings) Yeah, definitely. I think we bowled really well, and 248 is not difficult to chase on this wicket. I think it's a great wicket, and our bowlers did very well. If we had taken two catches, definitely we could have kept them under 200 runs. So it’s just small mistakes from our team. But I think we have a lot of positives as well.
(On Shoriful Islam's bowling) Yeah, definitely. It was a great opportunity for him. You know, at the last moment Mustafizur got injured, and after that it’s difficult for any player because he didn’t know he would be playing. But fortunately, he came in and bowled really well. After a long time, he came back and delivered.
(On Bangladesh batting) Yeah, definitely. I think back-to-back wickets are always key, especially early on. The way Litton and Towhid batted was good, and there was some brilliant bowling at that moment as well. After that, Towhid and Afif—we definitely needed to finish well. Otherwise, we cannot win, because in a chase you always need big partnerships. If we make a big partnership, we can definitely win."
(On Shoriful Islam's bowling) Yeah, definitely. It was a great opportunity for him. You know, at the last moment Mustafizur got injured, and after that it’s difficult for any player because he didn’t know he would be playing. But fortunately, he came in and bowled really well. After a long time, he came back and delivered.
(On Bangladesh batting) Yeah, definitely. I think back-to-back wickets are always key, especially early on. The way Litton and Towhid batted was good, and there was some brilliant bowling at that moment as well. After that, Towhid and Afif—we definitely needed to finish well. Otherwise, we cannot win, because in a chase you always need big partnerships. If we make a big partnership, we can definitely win."
Player of the Match: Dean Foxcroft
Dean Foxcroft (Player of the Match): "(On whether previous experience in Bangladesh helped) Yes, definitely. Playing a couple of games here last year with the New Zealand A team helped a lot in terms of preparation. That experience was useful coming into this tour.
(On the team’s overall performance) I’m proud of the boys. It was a great team performance with the bat, ball, and in the field. Overall, it was an outstanding day for us.
(On confidence in defending the total) Absolutely. We felt 240 was a competitive score, but we knew Bangladesh had a quality batting lineup. Our focus was to stick to our plans, bowl well, and support the bowlers in the field.
(On winning in Bangladesh) It’s not an easy place to come and win games, so it was a really good performance from the team. It was extremely hot, and we’re not used to that because it’s winter in New Zealand now. But we wanted to take on the challenge, and today was our day.”
(On the team’s overall performance) I’m proud of the boys. It was a great team performance with the bat, ball, and in the field. Overall, it was an outstanding day for us.
(On confidence in defending the total) Absolutely. We felt 240 was a competitive score, but we knew Bangladesh had a quality batting lineup. Our focus was to stick to our plans, bowl well, and support the bowlers in the field.
(On winning in Bangladesh) It’s not an easy place to come and win games, so it was a really good performance from the team. It was extremely hot, and we’re not used to that because it’s winter in New Zealand now. But we wanted to take on the challenge, and today was our day.”
Tom Latham (New Zealand Captain): "(On whether 247 was enough?) Yeah, we were pretty happy at the halfway mark. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but the guys found a way to get to a really competitive total. As I said at the toss, the reason for batting first was that we were hoping the wicket would deteriorate and get harder. I certainly thought it did that towards the back end of the innings tonight. So, full credit to the guys—we scrapped away, and it was a good, practical performance.
(On the NZ batting unit) Yeah, they played fantastically well. As a batting unit, we talk about partnerships and contributions. Sometimes in this part of the world, they look slightly different—it’s not always about big partnerships, but those small contributions after wickets fall are really important. Even towards the back end, with contributions from a few of the bowlers. Credit to the way Dean anchored the innings towards the end and did well to get us to a really competitive total.
(On NZ winning the first game of the series) Yeah, for us it’s always about improving, putting in a good performance, and adapting to conditions. Hopefully, results take care of themselves if we’re doing what we want to do as a team. We obviously ended up on the right side tonight and did a lot of good things. Hopefully, we’ll be better for the experience of playing on a surface like that. It might be similar in a couple of days, or it might be different—we pride ourselves on adapting. I thought we did that really well today."
(On the NZ batting unit) Yeah, they played fantastically well. As a batting unit, we talk about partnerships and contributions. Sometimes in this part of the world, they look slightly different—it’s not always about big partnerships, but those small contributions after wickets fall are really important. Even towards the back end, with contributions from a few of the bowlers. Credit to the way Dean anchored the innings towards the end and did well to get us to a really competitive total.
(On NZ winning the first game of the series) Yeah, for us it’s always about improving, putting in a good performance, and adapting to conditions. Hopefully, results take care of themselves if we’re doing what we want to do as a team. We obviously ended up on the right side tonight and did a lot of good things. Hopefully, we’ll be better for the experience of playing on a surface like that. It might be similar in a couple of days, or it might be different—we pride ourselves on adapting. I thought we did that really well today."
So what is the takeaway? New Zealand read the pitch better. They accepted ugly phases, then won the key moments. Bangladesh had chances at 124/3 and again at 181/4, but could not close either door. Nicholls laid the platform. Foxcroft accelerated. Tickner finished like a closer in a crime film. New Zealand take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, and Bangladesh are left chasing answers instead of runs.
Until then, I am Dev Rajawat, signing off, along with my co-commentator, Deepak Prakash, and scorer Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Also, a special thanks to our helping buddy and statistician, Mohammad Anab. That’s it from our side. Thanks for joining. But cricket doesn’t sleep. Plenty is happening around the world. Switch tabs, follow the fun. Goodbye from this tab! TAKE CARE! BREATHE AND SMILE! CIAO!!!!
Until then, I am Dev Rajawat, signing off, along with my co-commentator, Deepak Prakash, and scorer Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Also, a special thanks to our helping buddy and statistician, Mohammad Anab. That’s it from our side. Thanks for joining. But cricket doesn’t sleep. Plenty is happening around the world. Switch tabs, follow the fun. Goodbye from this tab! TAKE CARE! BREATHE AND SMILE! CIAO!!!!