New Zealand beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets in the series opener at Seddon Park on Wednesday. Brendon McCullum put them out of their misery by the ninth over with a blistering half-century.
Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan's chose to bat first completely backfired as the New Zealand bowlers blew Bangladesh away for just 78 their lowest Twenty20 total.
The tourists were all out in the 18th over thanks to some senseless shot selection shot and a disciplined New Zealand bowling performance. The home side's bowlers effectively exploited the bounce and turn on offer to create pressure in between wickets which fell at an alarming rate for Bangladesh.
Tamim Iqbal played well for his 14, smashing Tim Southee over midwicket and straight down the ground in the second over, but was caught down the leg side off a Daryl Tuffey short ball which grazed his gloves.
Aftab Ahmed, in his first Bangladesh appearance since April 2008, attempted to continue the momentum with a series of wild slogs to the leg side but managed to connect only once, lifting James Franklin over fine leg for six before being outdone by a yorker just two balls later.
Mohammad Ashraful fell in typical fashion, holing out to deep cover off Vettori, who then trapped Mushfiqur Rahim in front first ball in the same over. The middle order was utterly outfoxed by Vettori and his spinning partner Nathan McCullum, who picked up five wickets between them for 21 runs. Vettori conceded just six runs from his four overs, picking up Shahadat Hossain in the 15th over to round out his three scalps.
The Bangladesh tail came out playing shots but were unable to string any meaningful partnerships together, and were eventually polished off by Tuffey and Jacob Oram who finished with two wickets a piece.
