Bangladesh beat Netherlands by 8 runs
Bangladesh won the first of three qualifying matches for the main round of ICC T20 World Cup 2016 when they came out in front by 8 runs against a feisty Netherlands side at Dharamsala today.
Netherlands lost wickets in a heap after their top-order scored some useful runs. They were well placed at 77 for 2 in the 12th over, but found the going get really tough as Bangladesh bowlers struck back with vengeance.
Bangladesh v Netherlands |
Netherlands: 145/7 (20/20 ov) |
Bangladesh: 153/7 (20/20 over) |
For Bangladesh, Al-Amin and Shakib captured two wickets each. Nasir and Mashrafe took a wicket in their respective spells of four overs. Overall, the bowling performance was not bad but lacked the bite and intensity.
Netherlands lost the wicket of Cooper in the 19 th over when Al-Amin got the better of him with a slower legcutter. Cooper fell for 15.
Mashrafe placed Bangladesh in a great position to defend 153 when he removed Netherlands allrounder van Merwe in the 17th over. The Netherlands batter tried to force the ball on the off but got an edge to keeper Mushfiqur.
Shakib Al Hasan picked up his second wicket of the match when he got the big wicket of Netherlands captain Borren in the 16th over.
Borren swung his bat as hard as he could, and this slog-sweep took the ball straight into the hands of Nasir at deep midwicket. Borren made 29 from 28 with three fours to his name.
Shakib Al Hasan struck in the 12th over to stall Netherlands' progress, and gave his side the upper hand.
BN Cooper missed his slog sweep to a ball tossed up on middle, and saw his furniture disturbed. He scored 20 runs from 15 balls with three hits to the fence.
Netherlands were rocked in the ninth over of their chase when Nasir Hossain removed Myburg against the run of play.
Myburg tried to pull a flat delivery from Nasir but the ball skidded on with the arm and rattled the stumps. Netherlands opener scored 29 from 29 balls with five fours.
The second wicket stand of 32 runs in 3.4 overs consolidated the Dutch innings somewhat after the first wicket fell early.
Bangladesh new ball bowler Al-Amin Hossain gave his side their first breakthrough in the fifth over when he sent back Netherlands opener Barresi for nine runs.
Barresi pulled a short ball from Al-Amin straight down Sabbir Rahman's throat at deep square leg.
Earlier, Bangladesh reached a challenging total of 153 for 7 thanks to an unbeaten knock by opener Tamim Iqbal. Tamim scored 83 from 58 balls, with six fours and three big sixes to his name.
The next highest run getters for Tigers after Tamim were Soumya and Sabbir with 15 runs respectively. Netherlands took wickets at crucial junctures of the game, but could have fielded better in the match.
Timm Gugten was the most successful bowler for Holland with three wickets for 21 runs in four overs. Paul Meerkeren took two for 17 in his quota of four overs.
Mashrafe Mortaza was the seventh wicket to fall for Bangladesh when his lofted shot found the fielder in the deep in the 19th over.
Tigers captain was dismissed for seven runs, and became Gugten's third victim of the day.
Paul van Meekeren picked up his second wicket of the match when his back-of-a-length ball on middle was edged to short third man by Nasir Hossain in the 18th over.
Nasir tried to clip the ball into the leg side, and fell for three runs.
Bangladesh were rattled in the 15th over when Netherlands' Timm van der Gugten took two wickets with his disciplined bowling.
Mushfiqur Rahim was gone for a two-ball duck when Gugten's ball smashed into middle and leg stump. Mushy was late in his shot, the ball kept low and took the inside edge of the bat before disturbing the batsman's furniture.
Gugten dismissed Mahmudullah with the third ball of the 15th over. Mahmudullah tried a massive slog to a good length ball on off, missed and was clean bowled for 10 runs.
With wickets falling at the other end, Tamim was resolute and played sensibly. He placed the ball well as he progressed in his innings, and struck some beautiful boundaries on the off.
Tamim reached his fourth T20I fifty from 36 balls, and smashed three fours and two sixes along the way.
Netherlands captain Peter Borren made an impact with his first over, and placed his side in the driver's seat by sending back Shakib Al Hasan for only five runs.
Shakib slapped a short and wide ball straight into the hands of short third man. His poor form continues…
Tigers reeling after the latest blow from Borren.
Netherlands got their second breakthrough in the ninth over, and saw Sabbir Rahman depart for 15 runs to his name.
Reolof van der Merwe's flat delivery went on with the arm and rapped Sabbir on the pads. The umpire raised his finger without any hesitation. Sabbir looked good while he struck a four and a six in his brief knock.
Bangladesh were rocked early when Netherlands bowler got the better of Soumya Sarkar in the fourth over with a wide delivery.
Soumya threw the kitchen sink at the ball but only managed a feather edge to the keeper. He was dropped in the first over, and couldn't score more than 15 runs.
Netherlands captain Peter Borren won the toss and decided to bowl first given the conditions at Dharamsala during the qualifying match of World T20 2016 in India.
Bangladesh's last tour of India was for the Champions Trophy in 2006. Mashrafe Mortaza, the captain, is just one of two surviving members - Shakib Al Hasan being the other - from that side.
If Bangladesh were playing in any other part of India, where conditions were similar to their own, it wouldn't come up as an issue. But Dharamsala has an elevation of approximately 4780 feet above sea level, which would make the conditions on offer a unique challenge for them.
And to get accustomed, Bangladesh gave themselves one full day -Tuesday - when they held their only training session at the HPCA stadium after arriving in the country late on Monday, immediately after the Asia Cup final in Mirpur on Monday.
Two years ago, the Netherlands needed to chase 190 runs in 14.2 overs against Ireland to qualify to the main draw of the World T20. Nobody gave them a chance during the ten-minute innings break before they took about an hour or so to prove everyone wrong. They did it in 13.5 overs.
Later in the tournament, they went on to beat England by 45 runs. If they are looking for inspiration this time round, they can look back to those two games. And that's exactly their problem ahead of the clash against the in-form Bangladesh side. That win over England in Chittagong was also their last T20I against a Full Member.
Netherlands meanwhile have the likes of Stephan Myburgh, the Cooper brothers and a steady bowling attack, led by captain Peter Borren, to thwart Bangladesh who are slightly disadvantaged by arriving later than the Dutch in Dharamsala. Netherlands also have the memory of previously beating Bangladesh in T20I cricket to buoy them.
Bangladesh Squad
Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Abu Hider, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicketkeeper), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal and Taskin Ahmed
Netherlands Squad
PW Borren (Captain), Ahsan Malik, W Barresi (Wicketkeeper), Mudassar Bukhari, BN Cooper, TLW Cooper, VJ Kingma, SJ Myburgh, MP O'Dowd, MJG Rippon, PM Seelaar, LV van Beek, T van der Gugten, RE van der Merwe and PA van Meekeren
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