It was a welcome return to form for Shakib Al Hasan, who scored his first fifty in 20 T20I innings to shepherd Bangladesh to 159 for 5. Netherlands made a good fist of the chase, moving to 111 for 3 in the 15th over. But leg spinner Rishad Hossain struck three times in four balls spread across two overs to change the course of the game. Shakib Al Hasan finally came to the party in Bangladesh victory.
With Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman tightening the screws alongside Rishad, Netherlands fell in a heap, losing 4 for 6 in the space of 16 balls. They still had an outside chance with 36 needed off the last two overs, but Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters proved too much to handle in the 19th over. He kept slanting the ball across, and the batters kept swishing and missing. He conceded just three runs in that over, having given away just one in the 17th, and Netherlands were eventually restricted to 134 for 8.
Pitch and Toss
There’s a strong wind – 17 km/hr., that’ll be a factor for captains and bowlers. Dimensions – 67m (hitting into the end) and 61m square boundaries, 76m straight down the ground. We are going to get some good carry. The pitch is very nice and hard. There’s a decent grass covering and a bit of greenness to the gras as well. The ball is going to carry through. It’s going to be a better surface. The ball is going to come on more than what we’ve seen so far in this tournament.
If I was a captain and if I had to win the toss, I’d still bowl first. Little bit unpredictable, there haven’t been games that have happened here in the T20 format since 2013. Morning game, there might still be a little bit of moisture. Win the toss, have a bowl first, see what it does. It’s going to play better than what we have seen so far.”
Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards won the toss and chose to bowl with one change in the team bringing in Aryan Dutt for Teja Nidamanuru. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto made no changes to his playing XI.
Bangladesh positive despite early wickets as Shakib Al Hasan shines in Powerplay
The decision to bring in Aryan Dutt in place of Teja Nidamanuru paid off for the Netherlands as the offspinner had Najmul Hossain Shanto caught off a reverse sweep in the second over. After a quiet start, Tanzid Hasan got going with a six and two fours off Vivian Kingma in an 18-run third over. Litton Das’s attempted slog sweep resulted in Dutt bagging his second wicket, thanks to a sensational catch from Sybrand Engelbrecht who sprinted, put in the dive and held on to the ball with outstretched hands.
Tanzid Hasan, meanwhile, continued to be positive, pulling Dutt for a four and Shakib Al Hasan also got into the act with a cover drive for a boundary off Paul van Meekeren. Shakib Al Hasan took on Logan van Beek in the sixth over, scoring four boundaries, as the 19-run overpowered Bangladesh to their third highest powerplay score in T20 World Cups.
With the Bangladesh top order studded with left-handers, Netherlands brought Aryan Dutt in for his first game of the tournament and he immediately repaid their faith. Introduced in the second over, he removed the Bangladesh captain with his second ball. It was an innocuous length ball outside off, which Najmul Hossain Shanto reverse-swept straight to first slip.
Dutt struck again in his next over, with a lot of help from Sybrand Engelbrecht. Litton Das eyed a slog-sweep only to get a top-edge well in front of square. But Engelbrecht, stationed behind square, sprinted to his left , put out a full-length dive and picked up a screamer inches off the turf.
Despite the early losses, Bangladesh continued to score at a fair clip. Tanzid Hasan struck Vivian Kingma for two fours and a six in the third over before Shakib Al Hasan picked another four off Paul van Meekeren in the fifth. Shakib Al Hasan then laid into Logan van Beek in the sixth over, smashing him for four fours to take Bangladesh to 54 for 2, comfortably their highest powerplay score of the tournament.
Netherlands pull things back in middle overs as Shakib Al Hasan remains steady
Tanzid struck two fours off Bas de Leede in his opening over but after a quiet over from Dutt, the opener was dismissed by van Meekeren looking to pull against the wind. The Netherlands did well to bring down the scoring rate, conceding only 22 in the four overs after the powerplay.
Shakib Al Hasan hit a four off Tim Pringle but Dutt continued to keep it tight, giving away only five off his last over to finish with 2 for 17. Pringle then accounted for the wicket of Towhid Hridoy as Bangladesh slipped to 89/4. Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah picked up a four apiece but the Netherlands kept the scoring rate in check in the middle overs.
Netherlands weren’t backing down, though. Captain Scott Edwards rung in the changes and the bowlers made sure to stick to their lengths. According to ESPNCricinfo’s logs, Netherlands only veered into the full lengths four times in 10 overs from the seventh to the 16th, and Bangladesh’s scoring rate dropped.
The pressure told on Tanzid, who mistimed a pull to deep backward square leg in the ninth over, while Towhid Hridoy had his leg stump flattened by Tim Pringle in the 13th. Bangladesh managed only 58 runs in the middle ten overs with five fours and a six, and lost two wickets.
Shakib Al Hasan the glue as Bangladesh end strongly
Shakib Al Hasan slowed down as he neared his fifty but Mahmudullah ensured Bangladesh did not lag in the death overs, striking a six off van Beek, followed by a six and a four off Pringle. Shakib Al Hasan eventually reached his first fifty in his last 20 T20I innings but van Meekeren bagged the important wicket of Mahmudullah and conceded only four runs in the 18th over. But there were five boundaries struck in the last two overs – three by Jaker Ali off van Beek in the 19th and two by Shakib off de Leede in the 20th – with 26 runs coming off them.
The last time Shakib Al Hasan scored a fifty in T20Is was in October 2022 against Pakistan. At the T20 World Cup, he hadn’t breached the half-century mark since 2016. But on this crucial day, Bangladesh’s stalwart stood tall.
He scored his first seven runs at a run-a-ball, and picked up his once he got the hang of the surface. And even when the runs dried up in the middle phase, he kept rotating strike without panicking. He reached his fifty off 38 balls and hit de Leede for back-to-back fours in the final over to finish unbeaten on 64 off 46 balls, his innings studded with nine fours.
There were important contributions from Mahmudullah (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (14* off seven) as Bangladesh collected 47 runs off the last four overs.
Bangladesh keep Netherlands in check in Powerplay
Michael Levitt and Max O’Dowd helped the Netherlands make a steady start in the chase, with the former playing the aggressor’s role as he struck 2 fours and a six in the first four overs. Levitt also survived a direct hit but he eventually departed, slicing a catch to point off Taskin Ahmed in the fifth over. O’Dowd then managed two fours but his outing ended in the sixth over when Tanzim Hasan Sakib held on to the ball that was smashed back at him. Engelbrecht ended the over with a four but the run-rate of six meant the Netherlands had a lot of work to do.
With 349 runs in nine innings, Michael Levitt came into this tournament as Netherlands’ highest run-scorer in T20Is since the start of 2024. However, he’s had a dismal start to his T20 World Cup with scores of 1 and 0 against Nepal and South Africa. He seemed to change the tide against Bangladesh when he drove Mustafizur through the covers in the first over. Then, when he smashed Taskin Ahmed over the roof at deep midwicket, it seemed his campaign was back on track.
But Levitt’s joy was short-lived. In the fifth over, he top-edged a cut off Taskin to Hridoy at point. In the next over, Max O’Dowd smashed a length ball straight back to Tanzim Hasan, and Netherlands ended the powerplay at 36 for 2.
Netherlands make good progress in middle overs
Vikramjit Singh took a liking to the spinners, striking two sixes in an over off Shakib before clearing the fence off Rishad Hossain. Engelbrecht provided good support from the other end as they put on a brisk 37 run stand but that came to an end when Vikramjit was stumped off Mahmudullah in the 10th over.
In the same over, Scott Edwards struck a four as the Netherlands moved to 73/3 at the halfway stage of the innings, only two less than what Bangladesh had managed at the same stage for the same number of wickets. The Netherlands edged ahead slightly, thanks to Engelbrecht’s six and a four off Shakib Al Hasan and Edwards’s regular boundaries. But Rishad provided a double strike in the 15th over, getting Engelbrecht and de Leede in quick succession to continue the game of cat and mouse.
Rishad triple-strike gives Bangladesh the win over Netherlands
With 49 needed for the Netherlands off the last five overs, Shakib Al Hasan delivered an important over, conceding only five runs in the 16th. The pressure got to skipper Edwards who looked to swipe an off-cutter from Mustafizur across the line but got a top-edge. The left-armer also gave away only one run, leaving the Dutch with an uphill task of getting 43 in three overs.
Rishad added van Beek’s scalp and despite being hit for a six by Dutt, he finished with good figures. The Netherlands needed 36 off the last two but fell well short of the target, with Mustafizur conceding only 12 runs from his 4 overs. Netherlands seemed to be giving Bangladesh a proper fight when Engelbrecht and Edwards were at the crease. The duo ran superbly and got the boundaries at regular intervals during a 31-ball stand of 42 for the fourth wicket.
When Rishad was brought on to bowl the 15th over, Netherlands required 56 off 36. The leg spinner’s first two overs had gone for 19 and he knew this over could decide the match. It did, in Bangladesh’s favour.
With his fourth ball, he got Engelbrecht to top-edge a leg break straight up, with Tanzim taking the catch at point. Two balls later, he had de Leede stumped with a ball that spun sharply past his outside edge. Mustafizur then got into the act by taking out Edwards, and when Rishad sent back Logan van Beek at the start of the 18th over, the game was as good as done.
Dutt struck a six off Rishad later in that over, but he and Pringle had no answers to Mustafizur’s cutters in the 19th. Eventually, Netherlands fell well short of their target. The result does not knock them out of contention, nor does it give Bangladesh a sure-shot place in the Super Eight. It has, however, knocked Sri Lanka out, and given Bangladesh an excellent chance of advancing from Group D.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Najmul Hossain Shanto the winning skipper said: Boys showed a lot of character. Was a very important match for us and everyone was calm on the field. He was struggling in last couple of innings, but he showed his skill (talking about Shakib). We didn’t know how the conditions would behave.
Very hard for the batters but they did a great job. Very good outfield and the pitch also looked good. There was some uneven bounce with the new ball but that can happen. We all know how capable Mustafizur is. Rishad bowled well under pressure. I think all the bowlers did a good job.
Scott Edwards the losing skipper said: Credit to Bangladesh. I thought they played really well. We just weren’t up to it in all three departments. They got wickets in hand. We didn’t execute which was a shame. It was probably 10-15 runs more than we would’ve liked. We obviously knew they’ve got some quality bowlers at the death and tried to get some runs in the middle.
He’s been sensational for us for a few years now (Dutt). In general, he’s always been one of our best T20 bowlers. Just felt these conditions would suit him. It’s out of our hands now. Will focus on playing a good game against SL. Will see what happens from there.
Shakib Al Hasan Player of the Match for his half century said: It was important for someone from the top four to bat throughout the innings. Happy with the way I contributed with the bat. It wasn’t an easy wicket at the start of the innings. We held our nerves, put on a decent total. I won’t say it was a winning total, but it was a challenging total. Bowlers chipped in perfectly, especially the Fizz and Rishad. Those two bowlers took the game away from Netherlands.
Hardly any international game has been played in the last 4-5 years, so we didn’t what’s a good score. That’s why we had to keep our wickets in hand and see where we are at maybe 14-15th over and then decide how far we can go. It was a decent total, we put the runs on the board. 160 in a WC game is always tricky and that proved.
They had their moments, at the 12th over, they were 80 or 90 for three. Ten runs an over in this wicket, wind going one way, it wasn’t easy for us to restrict them. Credit should go to all the bowlers the way they bowled, they held their nerves. (On batting with neck braces while practicing) I was just practicing something.
Bangladesh are nearly through to the next round. Excellent turnaround from their bowlers in the last six overs. The match was in the balance at that stage with Netherlands needing 56 off 36 with 7 wickets in hand, but things fell apart for them with the wicket of Engelbrecht who was looking really good in the middle.
Rishad Hossain, who got some punishment in his first over, came back beautifully and played a key role in turning the balance towards Bangladesh. His leg break to dismiss de Leede, after having got rid of Engelbrecht, was a thing of beauty. The Fizz then came to the party, making the batters dance to the turn of his off-cutters and making it hard to get bat on ball, let alone score heavily. Eventually, what seemed like a close game turned into a comprehensive win for Shanto’s team.
Crucial result for Bangladesh who will be through to the next round with a win against Nepal in their final league game. Sri Lanka are officially out, and Netherlands need a miracle to qualify.
Netherlands’ net run rate has entered the negative and has left them with a must-win situation, needing a big victory at that, when they take on Sri Lanka in St Lucia on June 16, and also hope that Bangladesh lose their last game. On the same day, Bangladesh face off against Nepal in St Vincent and a win will guarantee them a Super 8 berth immaterial of the Netherlands-Sri Lanka result.