Infront of a 20 thousand-strong passionate home crowd, Richard McInnes' charges did everything right in the field while defending a not so convincing 202 until the last ten overs when the standard they had set dramatically dropped.

New Zealand secured the victory with four balls to spare when man-of the-match Sam McKay hit a lofted straight four off left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Junior.

The result leaves the hosts with a difficult task to qualify for the Super League phase from a group that also includes one of the title favourites India.

Bangladesh's batsmen had let the team down earlier when they were asked to bat on a placid surface. The Last four wickets fell only for 12 runs as only Nafees and captain Ashiqur Rahman came to terms with some disciplined bowling and outstanding fielding by the young Black Caps.

The home side were pegged back at the start when opener Naeem Islam returned to the pavilion for a duck. One down Aftab Ahmed was then needlessly run out attempting a suicidal single at mid on with the score on 36. Bangladesh's innings gained some momentum when Nazimuddin joined inform Nafees.

Nazimuddin was lbw to medium pacer Brent Findley for a run -a-ball 26. Skipper Ashiqur then gave good support to Nafees. They took some cheeky singles and attacked when the ball was there to be hit. Nafees played shots all around the wicket but was guilty of playing a stroke to many when he skied an attempted pull to the safe hands of opening bowler Te Ahu Davis after scoring 67 (92-balls, eight fours).

Ashiqur hit the second highest 42 off 58 balls with two hits to the fence before he became one of left-arm pace bowler Craig Smith's four victims. Smith ended with four for 43 runs while his new ball partner Davis returned figures of three for 34 from 8.

3 overs.

When their turn to bat came, the New Zealanders were rattled by a hostile spell from right-arm quick Shahadat Hossain. The tall fast bowler got only one wicket in his opening burst of seven overs but unnerved the opposing batsmen with a barrage of well-directed short-pitched deliveries. More than anything, he managed to create an impression with some genuine pace.

New Zealand lost wickets at regular intervals and were reeling on 118 for six in the 31st over. But a cool-headed 70-run seventh wicket partnership between Mckay and Anton Devcich broke Bangladeshi hearts. New Zealand were aided by some sloppy fielding and some unusually poor spin bowling from Test cap Enamul and the highly talented Nadif Chowdhury.

With nearly six an over required off the last ten overs, Mckay kept his cool and remained unbeaten on 40. left-handed Devcich added an invaluable 36 off 49 balls.

Shahadat, easily the most impressive bowler of the home side, captured two wickets for 28 runs in 8 overs while Enamul claimed two for 36.

Despite the loss, coach McKinnes said that it was good education for his boys.

"We learned a lot today. We learned from the New Zealanders how to bat under trying conditions."

McKinnes also believed that all was not over yet.

"We can still make the Super League if we win our next matches against Scotland and India. So we should keep our heads high."

His New Zealand counterpart Dayle Hadlee said that it was anybody's game. "I thought we got a bit lucky. They (Bangladesh) are a very strong side and we expected that. The loss in the first match against the Academy (BKSP) was quite an eye-opener for us and we were better prepared for this game," said Hadlee.

Man-of the-match Mckay revealed that staying relaxed was the key to pulling off the victory.

"When Anton came in we just smiled at each other and enjoyed the proceedings from there on. Playing infront of such a huge crowd was another incentive to do well. We've never seen anything like this before. The highest number of fans I've experienced in the past should be around 500."

The Bangladesh Under-19s will play their next match against minnows Scotland tomorrow at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. Their last group game is against India at the BNS on February 20.