Bangladesh captain Litton Das heaped praise upon the team's batters after they pulled off a record home chase to defeat New Zealand in their first T20I in Chattogram.

The hosts had 12 balls in hand as they successfully chased down a target of 183 runs, the largest they have ever completed in a home match in the shortest format.

New Zealand looked to be in an strong position on a tricky surface after posting a score of 182-6, with Katene Clarke top-scoring with 51 while stand-in captain Nick Kelly had 39. 

But the Black Caps were left to regret a middle-order slowdown that prevented them from passing the 200 barrier, as Tawhid Hridoy (51 not out), Parvez Hossain Emon (28) and Shamim Hossain (31 not out) guided Bangladesh to victory. 

Hridoy's half-century was his sixth in T20Is and came after he was criticised for his performance in the third ODI between the teams last week, a 55-run win that saw him held to 33 off 29 deliveries.

Speaking at the presentation afterwards, Das said: "183 is a big total at this ground because the wicket was not that easy to bat on; it was slow during the change of innings. 

Winning moments to remember  Bangladesh triumph over New Zealand  Pure passion. Pure dominance. #BCB #BANvsNZ #Cricket #Tigers #WinningMoment pic.twitter.com/U9YBb08jUk

— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) April 27, 2026

"I said we needed runs in the powerplay. If you get a good score early, it makes it easier for the middle order. The way Emon, Hridoy, and Shamim batted made it look easy, but it really wasn't. 

"That ball stayed a little bit low. As a batsman, one ball is all it takes, and when it stays down like that, you can't do anything."

Bangladesh now have a chance to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series when the teams face off again on Wednesday.