Mitchell Santner (4/16 and 18 not out) and James Neesham (28 not out) stitched a 46-run partnership which steered New Zealand to a 17-run win over Bangladesh (via DLS method) in the third and final T20I on Sunday. The Black Caps’ win also dashed Bangladesh’s hopes of their first series win in New Zealand as the T20I leg ended 1-1.

Captain Santner and Neesham came up with cool heads New Zealand needed to overcome another top-order collapse and chase down Bangladesh’s inadequate total of only 110 in a race against encroaching dark clouds and rain.

New Zealand were in trouble at 49/5 in the ninth over, trailing under the DLS method when Neesham and Santner came together. They stayed together and guided New Zealand to 95-5 in 14.4 overs when rain arrived and brought the match to an abrupt end.

“I think we always knew there was going to be a bit of rain around whether it came at the end of halfway through that second innings,” Santner said. “The bowlers did the job upfront and it was good to get across the line in a pretty hard-fought series.”

In extraordinary scenes, spectators dashed for the exits of Bay Oval as the rain pelted down, driven by strong winds. New Zealand needed 79 to be ahead as per the DLS calculation.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 110 in 19.2 ovs (M. Santner 4/16). New Zealand 95/5 in 14.4 overs (F. Allen 38, J. Neeshan 28 n.o.)