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Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has said the playing surface for the first T20I against New Zealand in Mirpur in Wednesday was even 'tougher' than the ones during the last series against Australia.
Shakib took three wickets and scored 25 runs to win the player of the match award in the first T20I that Bangladesh won by seven wickets. It was Bangladesh’s maiden T20I win over the Black Caps.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first, but they only managed to post 60 all out— their joint-lowest total in T20Is, and the lowest against Bangladesh by any team in the format.
New Zealand were unable to face Bangladeshi spinners, and the pacers as well. The hosts’ spinners bowled 12 overs in this match and conceded only 38 runs to take five wickets.
“New Zealand had to struggle on this wicket,” Shakib said after the match. “The wicket was tougher than the wickets we played on against Australia in the last series. New Zealand players are not experienced to play on these sorts of surfaces.”
Mustafizur Rahman bagged three wickets for Bangladesh, while Shakib and Nasum Ahmed took two wickets each, and Mahedi Hasan bagged one.
“Hitting big shots was very tough on this wicket. So it was important to take singles to keep the scoreboard afloat. The condition was so challenging for the batsmen,” Shakib added.
The other matches of this series will take place on September 3, 5, 8 and 10 respectively at the same venue, and all the matches will be kicked off at 4 p.m. Bangladesh time.