Shanto praises bowlers in Nepal win, promises better batting in Super 8s

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto heaped praises on his bowlers after a 21-run victory over Nepal in a Group D fixture of the ICC T20 World Cup in Kingstown, Saint Vincent on Sunday confirmed their entry to the Super 8s. 

With the Super 8s berth, the Tigers also secured a direct qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The Tigers needed something special from their bowling unit to turn things around after struggling against an effervescent Nepal bowling attack, having been bundled out for 106 runs.

And they did get that in abundance, especially from pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib, breathing fire with the new ball. Sakib gave away just seven runs, and picked up three vital wickets inside the powerplay, and eventually had incredible figures of 4-2-7-4 with a record 21 dot balls to his credit.

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That was the cue for the other bowlers to follow. Mustafizur Rahman then did what he does, with Shakib Al Hasan and Rishad Hossain also keeping things tight at different junctures. Shakib ended up with two wickets, with the ever wily Mustafizur scalping three for just seven, featuring a wicket-maiden in the game's penultimate over.

"Very happy the way we played this round. I hope we can continue our bowling performance, not our batting. Hope our batting performance will be fine in the next round. We are not scoring much but we know we can defend totals, if we can pick up early wickets. That is what we told the bowlers and they were very good in the field also," said Shanto during post-match presentation.

The Bangladesh captain also said that they have the necessary arsenal in their bowling attack.

"We have everything. All the fast bowlers have worked really hard in the last two or three years. In this format, the bowling unit is very important and I hope they continue their form. (On going into the Super Eight on the back of three consecutive wins) In T20Is, momentum is always important. We have to plan for the next round and execute our plans," he added.

The win places Bangladesh in Group 1 of the Super 8s with India, Australia and Afghanistan.