Shakib guides Bangladesh to victory over Netherlands

Shakib Al Hasan starred as Bangladesh put themselves on the verge of qualification for the Super 8 stage at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with victory over Netherlands in Barbados.

Shakib was the standout batter on the day with an unbeaten 64*, helping his side post 159/5 on a surface where big-hitting was far from straightforward.

And the Bangladesh bowlers completed the job, restricting the Dutch to 134/8 in the chase, 25 runs short.

Each of the top five in the Netherlands batting order reached double figures, with the match seemingly in the balance for long stretches of their reply.

But wickets fell too frequently for the Dutch to sustain their required run-rate, and their attempt fizzled out with the target still 25 runs away at the close.

Wickets from Taskin Ahmed (2/30) bookended the innings, as he dismissed opener Michael Levitt (18) to get the ball rolling for Bangladesh, and cleaned up Tim Pringle (1) off the final ball of the match to seal the win in style.

Max O’Dowd (12 from 16), Vikramjit Singh (26 from 16), Sybrand Englebrecht (33 from 22) and Scott Edwards (25 from 23) all threatened to play the knock that turned the match in their team’s favour, but some clever pace-off bowling from Bangladesh ensured that the run rate never felt under control.

Shakib (0/29 from 4) was the only one of the six Bangladesh bowlers not to pick up wickets on the day, as Rishad Hossain finished with leading figures of 3/33 from his four overs, and Mustafizur Rahman delivered a masterclass with economical returns of 1/12 from his four.

Taskin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib (1/23) and Mahmudullah (1/6) were the other wicket-takers as Bangladesh took control of their fate in Group D.

It was the Dutch who struck the first blow of the day, winning the toss and opting to bowl first following a short rain delay.

Aryan Dutt proved tricky to get away in the Powerplay, picking up the wickets of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das, with the latter falling to an outrageous catch by Sybrand Engelbrecht.

And the game came to a brief pause for a helmet check after a bouncer became lodged in the grill of Tanzid Hasan, who quickly moved to touch the wedged ball onto the turf to avoid any potential controversy over the possibility of being ‘caught’ when it was removed.

A fiery partnership between Tanzid Hasan (35 from 26) and Shakib Al Hasan saw Bangladesh accelerate towards a competitive score.

Paul van Meekeren stemmed the flow of the runs when he had Tanzid caught in the deep, and Tim Pringle struck to remove a bogged down Towhid Hridoy (9 from 15) as pace off proved the most effective option for the Dutch on a sticky surface.

But Bangladesh were able to add late runs as Netherlands returned to their death bowlers, with Shakib playing a superb hand, allowing Mahmudullah (25 from 21) and Jaker Ali (14 from 7) to let fly at the other end.

Pace went the distance for the Dutch, for whom off-spinner Aryan Dutt (2/17 in 4 overs) and medium-pacer Paul van Meekeren (2/15 in 4) proved by far the most effective bowlers.

And 160 proved too big a target in the end, leaving the Netherlands facing a likely first-round exit.

The result puts Bangladesh in control of their fate in Group D and the likely qualifiers along with South Africa. Nepal are up next for the Tigers, but that result may not matter depending on the outcome of other group matches.

The Netherlands still have an outside chance of qualifying, but the permutations are complicated with just one match, against Sri Lanka, still to play.