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Soumya’s effort in vain


Published : 30 Mar 2021 08:36 PM

The majestic Soumya Sarkar’s blistering 27-ball 51 couldn’t save Bangladesh from yet another series defeat as they lost to New Zealand by 28 runs by D/L method in the second of three-match T20 series in Napier on Tuesday. 

Chasing 170 in 16 overs, in a rain-marred match, Naeem Sheikh at the other end couldn’t give proper support to Soumya. At an important time, Bangladesh had to burn with regret over his slow batting.

Courtesy of Soumya's 51 off 27 balls Bangladesh’s innings stopped at 142/7. With this win, New Zealand have won the T20 series with one match to spare.

Earlier, New Zealand batted first and made 173 for 5 in 17.5 overs. Then the overs were reduced as time wasted in the rain. Bangladesh was given 16 overs to bat and the revised target was 148. But after scoring 12 runs in 2 overs, the umpires stopped the game. Match referee Jeff Crowe said the target in 16 overs was actually 170!

After the dramatic change of target, Bangladesh lost Liton Das in the beginning. Naeem Sheikh’s slow batting at the other end was increasing the pressure.

After the powerplay in 5 overs, Bangladesh’s score was only 37 for 1. After that Soumya Sarkar started his blazing batting. He scored 39 runs in the next two overs! He reached 40 off just 15 balls with four boundaries and three maximums,also raised the possibility of the fastest fifty for Bangladesh. 

However, the picture changed after Soumya's departure with a fifty off 25 balls. Naeem failed to fire his innings. He played 35 balls and scored 38 runs, which is not a good return in the T20’s.Skipper Mahmudullah could not remove the pressure by coming down atnumber four. Some boundaries also came from his bat in his 12-ball 21 run innings. However, it was not enough to chase down such a tall target.