Shakib, Rishad and Mustafizur take Bangladesh one step closer to Super Eight

In a cricket match, Bangladesh defeated Netherlands by a margin of 25 runs. Bangladesh scored 159 runs with Shakib contributing 64 runs and Tanzid adding 35 runs. Netherlands managed to score 134 runs, with Engelbrecht scoring 33 runs and Vikramjit contributing 26 runs. Rishad took three wickets for Bangladesh, while Taskin and Mustafizur took two and one wicket respectively.

Bangladesh took a significant step towards guaranteeing a spot in the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup 2024 with an impressive 25-run triumph against Netherlands in their first international match in Kingstown in almost 10 years.

Shakib Al Hasan made a great comeback by scoring his first fifty in 20 T20I innings and leading Bangladesh to a total score of 159 for 5. The Netherlands team tried hard to catch up, reaching 111 for 3 by the 15th over. However, leg-spinner Rishad Hossain made an impact by taking three wickets in just four balls across two overs, which completely changed the outcome of the game.

During the match, Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman worked together with Rishad, causing the Netherlands team to struggle and lose wickets quickly. They lost 4 players in just 16 balls. Despite still having a chance to win with 36 runs needed in the last two overs, Mustafizur Rahman's ball direction was too difficult for the Netherlands team to handle during the 19th over, resulting in them missing the ball when they swung at it. He only allowed three runs during that over and had only given away one run earlier in the 17th over. As a result, the Netherlands team was ultimately limited to a score of 134 for 8.

Dutt's Strikes Not Enough As Bangladesh Triumphs

Netherlands made a smart substitution for their game against Bangladesh, bringing in newcomer Aryan Dutt. This move paid off almost immediately as Dutt took out the Bangladesh captain with his second delivery. Despite being a simple ball outside off, Najmul Hossain Shanto attempted a reverse sweep but ended up hitting it straight to the first slip fielder. It was a great start for Dutt and a valuable contribution to his team.

In the following over, Dutt was able to take another wicket thanks to Sybrand Engelbrecht's assistance. Litton Das tried to hit a powerful shot towards the boundary, but instead he mishit the ball and it went high up into the air in front of the square. However, Engelbrecht was positioned behind the square and quickly ran towards his left side. He then dove full length and made an incredible catch just before the ball hit the ground.

Even though Bangladesh faced some early setbacks, they managed to keep up a decent run rate. Tanzid Hasan hit Vivian Kingma for two boundaries and a maximum in the third over. Then, Shakib took a four off Paul van Meekeren in the fifth over. In the sixth over, Shakib went all out on Logan van Beek, hitting him for four consecutive fours. Thanks to these shots, Bangladesh reached a total of 54 for 2, which is the highest score they have achieved during the powerplay in the tournament so far.

However, the Netherlands team did not give up. Captain Scott Edwards made some changes and the bowlers made sure to keep to their strategy. According to the records from ESPNcricinfo, the Netherlands team only used full-length deliveries four times in ten overs from the seventh to the sixteenth. This caused Bangladesh's scoring rate to decrease. This strategy put pressure on Tanzid who mistimed a pull to deep backward square leg in the ninth over, while Towhid Hridoy had his leg stump hit by Tim Pringle in the 13th. Bangladesh was only able to score 58 runs in the middle ten overs, including five fours and a six, and lost two wickets.

Shakib Holds Bangladesh Together As They Finish Strong

Shakib's last half-century in T20Is dates back to October 2022 when he scored against Pakistan. During the T20 World Cup, he hadn't scored above 50 since 2016. However, on this significant day, Bangladesh's dependable player proved himself.

He managed to score the initial seven runs at a rather fast pace of one run per ball, but later on he grasped the technique of the ground and continued to perform well. Despite the lull in runs during the middle part of the game, he remained calm and collected by frequently switching positions with his partner to keep the momentum going. He achieved his half-century after facing only 38 deliveries, scoring consecutive boundaries off de Leede in the last over to conclude his innings at an impressive 64 runs off 46 balls. Throughout his innings, he managed to hit the ball to the boundary nine times.

Mahmudullah and Jaker Ali made significant impacts by scoring 25 runs from 21 balls and 14 runs from seven balls respectively, thereby assisting Bangladesh to accumulate 47 runs in the final four overs.

Bangladesh Chips Away Steadily

Michael Levitt began the tournament as the top scorer for Netherlands in T20Is since 2024, having racked up 349 runs in nine innings. But unfortunately, he got off to a poor start in the T20 World Cup, with scores of 1 and 0 against Nepal and South Africa. However, things started looking up for him during the match against Bangladesh, when he hit a magnificent drive through the covers off Mustafizur in the first over. And when he sent Taskin Ahmed's delivery soaring over the deep midwicket's roof, it felt like his campaign was finally getting back on track.

Levitt was happy for a brief moment, but unfortunately, it didn't last long. During the fifth over, he accidentally hit the ball too high, causing it to go in Hridoy's direction at point. In the following over, O'Dowd forcefully hit a medium-speed ball back towards Tanzim Hasan. Because of this, Netherlands had 36 runs for 2 players at the powerplay's completion.

Vikramjit Singh successfully hit Shakib with two consecutive sixes in the seventh over, and was able to slog-sweep Rishad over deep midwicket in the ninth. Despite his brief energetic 16-ball performance, he was eventually caught out when he walked past a slower delivery from Mahmudullah. Nevertheless, at 69 for 3 in the tenth over, Netherlands still had a fighting chance.

Bangladesh Wins With Rishad's Triple-strike

During the match against Bangladesh, it appeared that the Netherlands team was putting up a strong challenge with Engelbrecht and Edwards holding the crease. The pair displayed top-notch running skills and repeatedly managed to hit boundaries while holding the fourth wicket for a total of 31 balls and securing 42 runs.

During the game, Rishad was chosen to throw the 15th over when the Netherlands required 56 runs off of 36 balls. Although Rishad faced some difficulty earlier with his first two overs allowing 19 runs, he was aware that this over would be critical in deciding the outcome of the match. Fortunately for Bangladesh, Rishad's efforts paid off and contributed to their victory.

On the fourth delivery, he caused Engelbrecht to hit a legbreak up in the air, and Tanzim caught it at point. In just two more balls, he managed to stump de Leede with a spin that was way too sharp for his outside edge. Following this, Mustafizur also got involved in the action by striking out Edwards. Finally, when Rishad removed Logan van Beek at the opening of the 18th over, the game was practically over.

Dutt hit a six off Rishad in the same over, but he and Pringle couldn't handle Mustafizur's cutters in the 19th over. As a result, Netherlands weren't able to reach their target. Even though this result doesn't eliminate them from the competition, it also doesn't guarantee Bangladesh a spot in the Super Eight round. Nonetheless, this outcome has eliminated Sri Lanka and has increased Bangladesh's chances of moving on to the next round from Group D.