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
