T20 World Cup: Bangladesh close in on Super 8 berth with 25-run win over Netherlands

KINGSTOWN: Shakib Al Hasan regained form with a sublime half-century before leg-spinner Rishad Hossain struck twice at a crucial juncture as Bangladesh inched closer to Super 8s with a 25-run win over Netherlands in the T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

Set a target of 160, the Netherlands ended at 134 for eight in their allotted 20 overs at the picturesque Arnos Vale Ground, which was hosting an international for the first time in 10 overs.

The result meant Sri Lanka were knocked out of the tournament.

Shakib roared back to form with a 46-ball 64 as Bangladesh posted a competitive 159 for five after being asked to bat.

Besides Shakib, Tanzid Hasan struck 35 off 26 balls and Mahmudullah chipped in with 25 off 21.

In their chase, Netherlands lost two wickets with just 32 runs on the board, and most importantly, with the powerplay about to end.

Vikramjit Singh (26 off 16 balls) hit three sixes and was looking dangerous when Mahmudullah had the batter stumped to leave Bangladesh at 69 for three in the 10th over.

Sybrand Engelbrecht (33 off 22 balls) and skipper Scott Edwards (25 off 23) added 42 runs for the fourth wicket before leg-spinner Rishad struck twice to the turn the game on its head.

Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, bowling brilliantly at the other end, sent back Edwards and Rishad returned to dismiss Logan van Beek cheaply to almost seal the match in Bangladesh's favour.

Netherlands needed 86 off 60 balls, and tried to make a match of it but then, all of a sudden, they lost four wickets as the the trio of Taskin Ahmed (2/30), Rishad (3/33) and Mustafizur Rahman (1/12) came up with excellent performances.

Earlier, with Bangladesh starting their innings with two left-handers, Edwards tossed the new ball to off-spinner Aryan Dutt in the second over, and the move paid instant dividends as they got the big wicket of Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (1).

The Dutch would do well to thank the Bangladesh captain for his horrendous shot selection as he went for a needless reverse sweep to be out caught in the first slip.

Dutt also accounted for Litton Das at the beginning of fourth over thanks to a stunning catch in the deep by a sprinting Sybrand Engelbrecht. After Das swept Dutt towards square leg, Engelbrecht covered a lot of ground and dived full-length to pull off the catch.

The shot Das played was also unnecessary given that Tanzid Hasan had picked up two boundaries and a six in the previous over. For the maximum, Tanzid danced down the ground and flayed it over covers.

The only change in the Dutch line-up for this vital Group D match, Dutt vindicated the team management's decision by returning excellent figures of 2/17 in his full quota of four overs. Paul van Meekeren (2/15) was also brilliant with the ball.

As many as 18 came off the fourth over bowled by Vivian Kingma and Bangladesh were on their way.

Struggling for form prior to this game, Shakib collected four boundaries in the sixth over, which yielded 19 runs, as Bangladesh reached 54 for two at the end of powerplay.

Meanwhile, Tanzid tried to hit van Meekeren against the wind and paid the price, holing out to Bas de Leede in the outfield.

Bangladesh's two most experienced players, Mahmudullah and Shakib then added 41 runs for the fourth wicket to prop up the team.

However, as the innings entered its final stretch, Mahmudullah, having hit two sixes and two furs, was done in by the strong wind as Engelbrecht completed another good catch near the ropes.