Sakib. (Photo Source: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Bangladesh booked a berth in the Super Eights of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, courtesy of a brilliant 21-run victory in the match no. 37 against Nepal. The match-up between the Asian Giants at the Arnos Vale Ground, Kingston on Monday, June 17 saw the Bangla Tigers being invited to bat first after the Nepalese skipper Rohit Kumar Paudel won the toss.
Nepal must have thought that their decision to bowl was like hitting a bullseye, as they dismissed the top four within the powerplay. At the end of 10 overs, Bangladesh were teetering at 57/5, however, crucial cameos by Rishad Hossain and Taskin Ahmed got them past the three-figure mark, as they were bundled out for 106, three balls into the final over.
Najmul Hossain Shanto believed in his bowling unit to defend the meagre target, and they didn’t disappoint the skipper, restricting Nepal batters to 24/4 at the end of the powerplay. By the seventh over, half the side had walked back, but Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee showed grit and determination to see their team through, although it wasn’t the case to be. Ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman churned an excellent spell at the death to put an end to all the hopes, picking three wickets in total in his four overs, giving away just seven runs, including a maiden.
Apart from Mustafizur, Tanzim Hasan Sakib was even more impressive, with his mind-boggling figures of 4-2-7-4, helping him receive Player of the Match award. Senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also picked up a couple of wickets at the end, handing Shanto & Co a place in the Super Eights in a do-or-die game. The match eventually ended with Bangladesh emerging victorious, who are now placed alongside India, Australia, and Afghanistan in the Super 8 Group 1.
Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024: India’s opponents in Super Eight – Who will India face in the Super Eight stage?
They will now be up against Australia on June 21 for their first Super 8 clash, before crossing swords with India and Afghanistan on June 22 and 25, respectively. Meanwhile, Nepal put an end to their campaign without securing a single win, losing three of their four games, while one was abandoned due to rain.
BAN vs NEP, Match 37 – Who Said What?
Najmul Shanto, Winning Captain, said:
Very happy the way we played this round, hope we will continue our bowling performance, not our batting. We are not scoring much but we believed that we could defend. The way we’ve bowled, we knew we could take wickets and defend. The fielders have also been good. We have everything, all the fast bowlers have worked really hard. That’s why we’ve played some good cricket. In this format bowling is very important, hope they can continue. Momentum is very important in a tournament like this, hopefully we can carry it through to the next stage.
Rohit Paudel, Losing Captain, said:
As a bowling unit we bowled really well. We could have done better with bat. The top order could have batted tighter. Bangladesh bowled really well with the new ball. Losing 4 wickets in the powerplay put us under a lot of pressure. They were always challenging us, they bowled really well in the powerplay. As a batting unit we need to step up, we need to know where to score runs and how to assess conditions. We’re up to the mark with our bowling and fielding. This team has great potential, we need to back each and every player, I feel we will do very well in the next World Cup. We have disappointed our fans, we could have won few matches, feel for them. We will try to make them happy in the coming years.
Also Check: T20 World Cup 2024 Points Table: Team Rankings, Standings, Net Run Rate in T20WC 2024
Tanzim Sakib, Player of the Match, said:
We just wanted to keep things simple. Not panic and bowl in good areas. We were very confident of defending this total. This bowling attack is beautiful. Everyone bowled well. Mustafizur bowled a wicket maiden under pressure at the death. I just wanted to execute my plans and that’s what I was focused on. We’re really excited to play in the Super Eights, we are very confident as well.