LONDON (Sky Sports) - An
inspired performance in the field led Bangladesh to a nine-run victory over the Netherlands in their Super 12s opener in the Men’s T20 World Cup.
Defending 144, Tigers fast bowler Taskin Ahmed took two wickets with the first two balls of Netherlands’ chase.
Two run outs in the fourth over then had the Dutch reeling at 15-4 and they were unable to recover.
Colin Ackermann scored 62 from 48 balls but they were bowled out for 135, Taskin claiming an impressive 4-25.
It was Bangladesh’s first ever win outside of the first round of a Men’s T20 World Cup.
After being put in to bat, the Tigers slipped from 43-0 to 76-5, with Dutch seamer Paul van Meekeren taking 2-21.
Afif Hossain top-scored with 38 from 27 and some late hitting from Mosaddek Hossain, who made 20 not out from 12, allowed Bangladesh to post 144-8.
It looked a below-par total but the Bangladesh bowlers responded brilliantly, assisted by some poor judgement by the Netherlands batters.
Van Meekeren struck 24 from 14 balls at number 11 but was out from the last ball of the innings as Soumya Sarkar held his nerve.
Both teams are back in action on Thursday, with Bangladesh taking on South Africa at 04:00 BST and Netherlands facing India at 08:00.
Bangladesh go second behind India in Group Two, while Netherlands are now bottom on net run rate.
Netherlands’ bowlers continued their fine form from the qualification stages. Van Meekeren bowled with challenging pace, all-rounder Bas de Leede also took two wickets and 19-year-old spinner Shariz Ahmad claimed the big wicket of Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan.
Taskin started the defense perfectly, having Vikramjit Singh caught at slip first ball before De Leede also nicked his first ball behind to wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.
The chaos continued when Max O’Dowd hit the first ball of the fourth over for six but was run out next up, undone by a brilliant diving save and throw from Afif on the mid-wicket boundary.
Two balls later, Tom Cooper was run out without facing a ball trying to attempt a third run and the contest felt almost over.
A combined bowling effort kept the pressure on the Netherlands, but they fought back late on and were still in with a chance when Van Meekeren, needing 18 from three, hit the first for six.
But it was a tough ask for a number 11 batter to repeat the feat twice more and he holed out from the final ball.