Tigers roar back to beat Netherlands by 25 runs and increase Super 8 qualification hopes

Rishad Hossain’s three-wicket haul helped Bangladesh eke out a much-needed 25-run victory against the Netherlands at the Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown and put one foot in the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup. The win from Bangladesh also knocked Sri Lanka out of the tournament. 

Bangladesh, asked to bat first, posted 159-5 on the back of a welcome half-century from Shakib Al Hasan as international cricket returned to St. Vincent after a decade.

Shakib hit nine fours as he returned to form with a masterful 64* off 46. He negated the Netherland’s short ball challenge pretty well and showed his range against spin by hitting boundaries off the back foot and skipping down the track.

The Netherlands (134-8) were well on course as they needed 49 off 33 with two set batters – Sybrand Engelbrecht and Scott Edwards – in the middle but Rishad’s (three for 33) magical spell brought Bangladesh well and truly back in the game. 

Earlier, Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Sakib struck to reduce the Netherlands to 36-2 at the end of the powerplay. 

Taskin got the Dutch dasher Michael Levitt out (18 off 16) before he could switch on his attack mode. The right-arm quick’s short ball got big on Levitt who attempted to cut the ball but couldn’t connect properly and Towhid Hridoy took the catch.

Max O’Dowd, who steered the Netherlands to a victory against Nepal, struck three boundaries but a brilliant return catch from Tanzim saw the back of the opener. 

Vikramjit Singh (26 off 16) took a liking to spin coming into him as he smashed three sixes to provide the much-needed acceleration. 

It prompted Najmul Hossain Shanto to bring in off-spinner Mahmudullah to take the ball away from Singh and the move worked immediately for Bangladesh. Singh was deceived in flight by Mahmudullah and Litton did the stumping. 

Engelbrecht and Edwards then forged a partnership of 42 off 31 to put the Netherlands in front. But Shanto had one more weapon up his sleeve.

Rishad, who endured a difficult start, returned to get rid of the dangerous Engelbrecht (33 off 22) and the big-hitting Bas de Leede in the same over – the 15th – to dent the Netherlands’ hope.

Mustafizur Rahman got the big wicket of the Dutch skipper Scott Edwards (25 off 23) to hit the last nail in the coffin.

The rest was almost a formality as the lower-order batters could not meet the demand of the required run rate.

It was Shakib first half-century since October 2022 that helped Bangladesh set a target of 160 for the Netherlands. 

Bangladesh had the worst possible start against the Netherlands in a crucial T20 World Cup clash as their captain Shanto gifted his wicket early, much to the delight of the Dutch.

The Tigers stuck to the all-left hander combination of openers despite the prospect of facing off-spinner Aryan Dutt early. Shanto went for the reverse sweep first up and hit the ball straight to first slip.

Litton went for the sweep early in his innings off Dutt, trying to take advantage of the positive match-up, but Engelbrecht took an absolute screamer to dismiss the Bangladesh number three.

Tanzid and Shakib, despite losing the openers, played their natural game. The Netherlands tried to attack them with short-pitched bowling but the duo was equal to the task.

Bangladesh scored 54 runs for the loss of two wickets in the powerplay despite an unfavourable start.

Shakib, in particular, got going with a 19-run over off pacer Logan van Beek. He played cut and pull shots in that over against short balls, his nemesis lately. 

Tanzid, on the other hand, was the first to counterattack. After his captain Shanto’s dismissal, the southpaw took down Vivian Kingma and played the opponent’s best bowler Dutt fairly well. He hit five fours and a six in his vital knock. 

But the short ball worked in the end for the Netherlands and Paul van Meekeren as Tanzid (35 off 26) pulled the ball, but not with conviction, and lost his wicket. 

The left-handed duo added 48 off just 32 balls. 

Towhid Hridoy was tied down by the Netherlands spinners and in the end he was cleaned up by Tim Pringle as he shaped for a cut shot in a delivery too close to cut. Hridoy’s dismissal left Bangladesh in a spot of bother at 89-4 in the 13th over.

Bangladesh struggled to hit the older ball and the scoring rate was under a run-a-ball in the middle phase (7-15) and they needed some big overs to go past the 150-run mark.

Mahmudullah (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (24* off seven) struck a few lusty blows before Shakib’s array of cheeky shots in the final over to take Bangladesh to 159-5.

54 runs came off the last five overs from the bat of Bangladesh which made a big difference in the end.