Bangladesh pulled off a stunning comeback win over Netherlands to boost their T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 chances on Thursday, June 13. The veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan scored an unbeaten fifty and bowled a greedy spell to lead Bangladesh to a crucial 25-run win while defending 159 at Kingstown's Arnos Vale Ground.
A win for Bangladesh also ended Sri Lanka's slim hopes of qualifying for the Super 8 round. Bangladesh further strengthened their second position with four points in three matches and Netherlands remained in the third position with two points in three games in Group D.
With two wins in three matches, Najmul Shanto's men now lead in the Super 8 race ahead of Netherlands and Nepal. Bangladesh's only defeat came against the Group leaders South Africa where they fell just four runs short while chasing a 114-run target.
Bangladesh were forced to bat first after losing the toss in the first game of this World Cup in Kingstown. Aryan Dutt gave the Dutch side a sensational start with two early big wickets of Najmul Shanto and Litton Das but Bangladesh dominated the middle overs through a brilliant partnership between Shakib and Tanzid.
Shakib and Tanzid added 48 runs for the third wicket to keep Bangladesh on track for a big total. Tanzid scored crucial 35 runs to show some glimpses of returning to form while Shakib smashed 64* off 46 balls to register his maiden fifty in the 2024 edition of the tournament. Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren picked two wickets each for the Netherlands while Tim Pringle bagged one.
Chasing a tough total, openers Michael Levitt and Max O'Dowd added 22 runs for the first wicket. However, the Netherlands lost both openers in the powerplay but Vikramjit Singh and Sybran Engelbrecht kept the scorecard moving with a 37-run partnership for the third wicket.
Engelbrecht top-scored with 33 runs off 22 balls before getting dismissed by Rishad Hossain in the 15th over. Engelbrecht's dismissal caused an embarrassing collapse for the Dutch side who lost the next four wickets for just six runs.
Rishad further took two more wickets as the Netherlands managed to post a total of 134/8 in 20 overs. Rishad claimed three wickets for 33 while Taskin Ahmed clinched two for 30 for Bangladesh. Shakib bagged the Player of the Match award for his brilliant fifty and impressive economical spell.
Netherlands Playing XI: Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Litton Das (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman.
