Kelly: Giving younger guys chances builds 'great depth'

New Zealand toured Bangladesh with several first-teamers away in the IPL or PSL

Mohammad Isam

Published: May 2, 2026, 5:15 PM (6 hrs ago)

New Zealand stand-in captain Nick Kelly hailed his side's death bowling and clean hitting that powered them to a six-wicket win in a rain-hit match against Bangladesh in the third T20I. The visitors drew the series 1-1, a big boost for the group that was devoid of almost their entire first-choice players in white-ball formats.

After Josh Clarkson led the bowling effort with 3 for 9 that included two wickets towards the end, Bevon Jacobs struck a breezy and unbeaten 62 off 31 balls after New Zealand were 33 for 4 in a chase of 103 in 15 overs.

"I think we spoke quite a bit about the last game, the areas we got wrong or maybe didn't quite hit the mark on, and I think a big part of that was our death bowling," Kelly said. "And I thought Josh was exceptional there. His plans were very clear and he executed beautifully.

"Bev (Jacobs) is a very, very clean ball-striker. We see him in the nets training very hard. He hits the ball a long way. It was cool for him to get himself in and then cool to see a bit of power at the end there. It was nice to get the win that way, and see those two guys (Jacobs and Dean Foxcroft) through the middle navigate, obviously a pretty tough period."

Kelly said that he enjoyed his sudden appointment as captain, when he was called up to lead the side in Tom Latham's absence due to the toe injury. Kelly said that he lapped up the opportunity as he doesn't think it will come by again.

"I have loved it. I think when I got on the plane to come over here, it (captaincy) was definitely not something I'd even thought about at all. Obviously it is a shame for Tom. To get the chance to lead my country in two T20Is was a massive honour. I may never get to do it again. So I'm just trying to suck it up and really enjoyed it."

New Zealand's big takeaway from this Bangladesh tour was giving game time to the inexperienced cricketers. They arrived in Dhaka without 18 of their top players, who were all busy in the IPL and PSL. Kelly said that it gave the team the opportunity to build depth.

"I think this time of year especially with those two big tournaments, there's always going to be guys who are given the freedom to play in those leagues, which I think is great" he said. "It just builds depth. So it was a little bit of a niggly situation managing those guys in and out. But it's just great to give younger guys or more inexperienced guys opportunities to play international cricket.

"I think it puts a bit of pressure on the guys who were previously in the team. They are there for a reason. But I think it also just builds great depth. There's going to be times when those guys are unavailable again for injury or for whatever reason, and then when the guys who come in and play these types of tours they've got the confidence that they've done it before."

New Zealand have a busy period of red-ball cricket coming up in the few months. They will fly to Ireland at the end of the month for a one-off Test before a three-Test series in England. Kelly believes that those who toured Bangladesh could have a shot at future places in the team if they keep performing in domestic competitions back home.

"I think it's just taking opportunities on tours like this. The opportunities could be few and far between but the only thing you can do really is keep performing domestically and then when you do get your chance internationally, you've got to take it because those opportunities might be small.

"There are a few guys here who put their hand up and when there is a next tour and there might only be a couple of spots available, I think all you can do is, when you do get a shot, is score runs and take wickets. And I think there's been a couple of guys who have done that."

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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