Jacobs, Clarkson fire New Zealand to series-leveling win

A three-wicket haul from Josh Clarkson and Bevon Jacobs' unbeaten 31-ball 62 powered New Zealand to a six-wicket win via DLS in the third and final T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday. The result sees the spoils shared at 1-1.

Electing to field first, New Zealand kept things tight early before debutant Jayden Lennox struck off his first delivery to dismiss Saif Hassan. Nathan Smith removed Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Parvez Hossain Emon off consecutive deliveries to leave Bangladesh in trouble. Bangladesh ended the Powerplay at 43/3 before rain caused a delay of nearly two hours, reducing the contest to a 15-over affair.

Clarkson dismissed Litton Das before striking twice in the 13th over, accounting for Towhid Hridoy's wicket. Bangladesh were bowled out for 104 in 14.2 overs.

Chasing a DLS-adjusted target of 103 in 15 overs, New Zealand lost four wickets early to be 33/4. Jacobs punished the bowlers, smashing boundaries and sixes, raising a fifty and sealing the game in style with 20 deliveries to spare.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 102 in 14.2 overs (Towhid Hridoy 33, Litton Das 26; Josh Clarkson 3-9, Ben Sears 2-12) lost to New Zealand 104/4 in 11.4 overs (Bevon Jacobs 62*, Tim Robinson 23; Shoriful Islam 3-19) by 6 wickets (DLS)