Christchurch: Devon Conway continued a compelling run of form leading into the Twenty20 World Cup with an innings of 64 Wednesday in New Zealand’s 48-run win over Bangladesh at the New Zealand T20 Tri-series.
With his help, New Zealand made 208-5 after losing the toss and then restricted Bangladesh to 160-7.
Conway made 70 not out and 49 not in his two previous innings in the series, carrying his bat on both occasions as New Zealand posted wins over Bangladesh and Pakistan. With his 36 in New Zealand’s opening loss to Pakistan, he has made 219 runs in the series so far at an average of 109.5. He now has six half-centuries in T20 internationals.
Conway provided the engine of New Zealand’s innings Wednesday, taking his runs from only 40 deliveries at a strike rate of 160.0 with five fours and three sixes.
Glenn Phillips took up where Conway left off, blasting 60 from 24 balls with two fours and five sixes at 250.0. Martin Guptill made 34 batting at No. 3 in his first appearance at the tournament, and opener Finn Allen hit 32 from 19 balls.
“The way Devon batted was really phenomenal,” Phillips said. “The partnership he and Guptill produced really set us up and I was just able to swing the bat at the end.
“For us that was the complete batting performance and the blueprint rolled out perfectly.”
Captain Kane Williamson was rested for the match but will return when New Zealand plays Pakistan in the tournament final Friday. Pakistan will play Bangladesh in the last of the round-robin matches Thursday.
The odds were against Bangladesh, which has surpassed 200 in a T20 innings on only three occasions. It made a good run at it, reaching 90-3 after 10 overs.
The loss of Soumya Sarkar at the end of the 10th over was a blow; he put on 43 with captain Shakib Al Hasan in brisk time.
Shakib carried the innings, making 70 from 44 balls, including a half century from 33 deliveries. He was out in the 19th over when Bangladesh was 153-7 and the match already was lost.
Liton Das, who made 23 from 16 balls, and Sarkar, who made 23 from 17, were the next best contributors.
“I thought New Zealand put on a very good total and we were always chasing the game,” Shakib said.
“I think if we had scored 15-20 runs more it would have closed down the game a bit.”
While Thursday’s game is now a dead rubber, Bangladesh still sees importance in the match ahead of the World Cup in Australia.
“If we can get a win we can take a bit of momentum on from here and that is very important,” Shakib said.
“We don’t know what exactly the World Cup team is, we are just trying to give some guys a game to understand the best combination. We’ll approach tomorrow to try and win the game.”
