A damp evening in Mirpur ended with New Zealand sneaking a six-wicket win and levelling the T20I series 1-1, a handy result for a squad missing 18 first-choice players to IPL and PSL duties. The chase was short—just 103 required from 15 overs after steady rain—but not straightforward. At 33 for 4 the tourists were wobbling, only for Bevon Jacobs to belt an unbeaten 62 from 31 balls and finish matters with nine deliveries spare.
Key moments first, then the detail. Josh Clarkson’s 3 for 9, including two tail-end wickets, kept Bangladesh to 102 for 8. Jacobs, helped by Dean Foxcroft, then cleared the ropes five times to shut the door. It was tidy cricket rather than spectacular, yet significant for a group learning on the fly.
Stand-in skipper Nick Kelly highlighted two themes—death bowling and clean striking. “I think we spoke quite a bit about the last game, the areas we got wrong or maybe didn’t quite hit the mark on, and I think a big part of that was our death bowling,” he said. “And I thought Josh was exceptional there. His plans were very clear and he executed beautifully.” For viewers new to the term, ‘death bowling’ simply means the final overs, where accuracy under pressure counts double.
Jacobs’ hitting drew equal praise. “Bev (Jacobs) is a very, very clean ball-striker. We see him in the nets training very hard. He hits the ball a long way. It was cool for him to get himself in and then cool to see a bit of power at the end there,” Kelly noted, smiling afterwards. “It was nice to get the win that way, and see those two guys (Jacobs and Dean Foxcroft) through the middle navigate, obviously a pretty tough period.”
The captaincy itself landed on Kelly only when Tom Latham’s toe ruled him out. He admitted the role felt surreal. “I have loved it. I think when I got on the plane to come over here, it (captaincy) was definitely not something I’d even thought about at all. Obviously it is a shame for Tom. To get the chance to lead my country in two T20Is was a massive honour. I may never get to do it again. So I’m just trying to suck it up and really enjoyed it.”
New Zealand’s selectors view tours like this as laboratories. With senior pros elsewhere, coaches could hand caps to players otherwise stuck behind the glass. Kelly believes the policy works. “I think this time of year especially with those two big tournaments, there’s always going to be guys who are given the freedom to play in those leagues, which I think is great,” he said. “It just builds depth. So it was a little bit of a niggly situation managing those guys in and out. But it’s just great to give younger guys or more inexperienced guys opportunities to play international cricket.”
The idea is competitive tension rather than comfort. “I think it puts a bit of pressure on the guys who were previously in the team. They are there for a reason. But I think it also just builds great depth. There’s going to be times when those guys are unavailable again for injury or for whatever reason, and then when the guys who come in and play these types of tours they’ve got the confidence that they’ve done it before.”
Attention now turns to the red-ball schedule: a one-off Test in Ireland later this month followed by three in England. A handful of this T20 squad could yet sneak into those plans, though it will take sustained domestic form. As Kelly half-joked before leaving the press room: “I think it’s just taking opportunities…”
The sentence trailed off, much like the Bangladesh innings, but the point was clear enough. For New Zealand cricket, chances taken in Mirpur may matter long after the rain.
