Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs Bangladesh
New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss and opted to bat in the third T20I, a must-win game for his side, on a sunny afternoon in Mirpur. It’s the same pitch as of the first T20I where New Zealand were bundled out for 60 but Latham hoped his side would keep making steady progress as the series goes on.
New Zealand made three changes, bringing in Finn Allen, Scott Kuggeleijn and Jacob Duffy for Doug Bracewell, Ben Sears and Hamish Bennett.
Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah was happy to chase and expected his side to restrict New Zealand to 130-140. He went in with the same XI that helped the hosts win the first two games. Nurul Hasan was once again carded as wicketkeeper despite coach Russell Domingo announcing ahead of the series that Mushfiqur Rahim would keep in the third and fourth T20Is.
This is the 100th T20I for Mahmudullah. He becomes the first Bangladeshi, and eighth overall, to reach the landmark. Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan needs two wickets to take over Lasith Malinga as the highest wicket-taker in the format.
Bangladesh: 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Liton Das, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Mohammad Saifuddin, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Nasum Ahmed
New Zealand: 1 Rachin Ravindra, 2 Finn Allen, 3 Will Young, 4 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 5 Colin de Grandhomme, 6 Henry Nicholls, 7 Tom Blundell, 8 Cole McConchie, 9 Scott Kuggeleijn, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Jacob Duffy
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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