Picture Credit: Twitter
New Zealand and Pakistan have sealed their berth in the finals of the ongoing tri series ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. While Kane Williamson-led New Zealand lost just one game out of four, Pakistan sealed the final spot with one final game against Bangladesh yet to be played.
The Kiwis won their final game against Bangladesh by 48 runs at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on October 12 (Wednesday). The match brought the best of the host as the top-order came heavy on Bangladesh bowlers posting 208/5 in 1st innings of the game. Finn Allen (32 off 19), Devon Conway (64 off 40), Martin Guptill (34 off 27) and Glenn Phillips (60 off 24) were key performances from the host in the 1st innings.
Meanwhile, an incident in the match hogged lot of limelight as one of the Glenn Phillips' maximum was perfectly grabbed by a spectator sitting in the alley behind the cow corner boundary. The incident took place in the 16th over of the New Zealand innings when Phillips got down on one leg and went hard on the slog sweep. Although, the batter didn't quite middle it but generated enough power to accelerate the ball over cow corner for a maximum. Elated with the catch, spectator acknowledged the applause from the crowd and shared high-five with one of them.
In response to New Zealand's 208/5, Bangladesh was restricted to 160/7 in the second innings despite valiant knock from skipper Shakib Al Hasan. The quality allrounder amassed 70 off 44 deliveries including one maximum and eight boundaries at the strike rate of 159.09. For Kiwis, right arm-fast pacer Adam Milne picked three wickets while skipper Tim Southee and Michael Bracewell bagged two wicket each.
