Tanzim Hasan Shakib finished with figures of 4/7, including 21 dot balls which is a record. However, the game was still won at the death by Mustafizur who bowled two stunning overs with the game still hanging in the balance. A fiery opening spell from Tanzim Hasan Sakib powered Bangladesh to a slightly tense win over Nepal, sealing their progress to the Super Eight stage.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib figures was best for Bangladesh in a T20I World Cup match. For the second game in a row Nepal had a Full Member side on the ropes with their bowling performance in Kingstown, but their batting order was blown away by Bangladesh’s fast bowlers. Bangladesh overcame a spirited effort from Nepal to clinch the final Super 8 spot in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Pitch and Toss
A strong breeze blowing through the stadium. We have 62m and 68m boundaries to the side, with longer straight boundaries. This venue has produced the most turn in this World Cup. We saw 12 wickets fall to spin in the previous game. There is a bit of patchiness across the surface. Spin it to win it, reckons Samuel Badree with Alan Wilkins.
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel won the toss and chose to field with one change in the Playing XI with Sundeep Jora coming in for Karan KC. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto batting first made no changes in the Playing XI.
Horror start to Bangladesh in the Powerplay
Sompal Kami struck first ball for Nepal, who opted to bowl, as Tanzid Hasan top-edged a short ball for a return catch to the fast bowler. Shanto was next to go, as Airee went through the Bangladesh captain’s defence in the next over. Given a third over on the trot, Kami then got Litton top-edging a pull off a short ball that wicketkeeper Aasif Sheikh settled under. It meant a poor run of form for Bangladesh’s top order, who have only contributed 122 runs in their four group stage matches.
Towhid Hridoy, Bangladesh’s best batter in the competition, hit two fours but top-edged an attempted slog sweep off Paudel to leave Bangladesh stuttering at 31 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.
Bangladesh made the worst possible start they could have imagined heading into a crucial game such as this one. Tanzid Hasan was back in the pavilion after just two balls and skipper Najmul Shanto was bowled in the second over of the game as Nepal stunned Bangladesh. After two quiet overs, it was the turn of Litton Das to depart as he mistimed a pull to get a top edge. The big wicket of Towhid Hridoy in the final over of the powerplay pegged them back further.
Nepal continue to keep Bangladesh in check in middle overs
Another phase of the game that wasn’t productive enough for Bangladesh. Mahmudullah did cut Sandeep Lamichhane for a boundary and Shakib fetched one in the following over but then a miscommunication between the two seniors resulted in the right-hander losing his wicket that kept Nepal on top again. Runs were hard to come by in the middle overs and in the process, Bangladesh also lost the wicket of Shakib.
Mahmudullah looked to regroup for Bangladesh along with Shakib, hitting two crisp boundaries off Sandeep Lamichhane, but was called for a run that was never there and ended up being run out at the non-striker’s end in the ninth over.
Rishad Hossain and Taskin Ahmed takes Bangladesh to 106
Shakib and Jaker Ali tried to consolidate, but Paudel got another breakthrough by dismissing Shakib, before Lamichhane bowled Tanzim and Jake with wrong ‘uns to put Bangladesh under threat of being bowled out under 100. But Rishad Hossain and Taskin helped Bangladesh add 31 runs for the last two wickets that took them to 106.
Bangladesh couldn’t do much at the death. There were a couple of timely boundaries from Rishad Hossain but apart from that, Bangladesh had nothing to show for. They were eventually bowled out for just 106 and that meant their qualification hopes were hanging in the balance.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib runs through Nepal in powerplay
Nepal found themselves in big trouble early when Tanzim Hasan Sakib struck twice in his second over – the third of the innings. Kushal Bhurtel missed a low full toss that swung away late to clip the off stump before Anil Sah toe-ended his effort to mid-off.
Taskin Ahmed created a couple of chances in the next over, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib reaped the rewards of the pressure built, with Rohit Paudel slapping a short and wide delivery straight to backward point. Tanzim Hasan Sakib nearly struck again in the over, but a leading edge from Sundeep Jora fell short of the bowler. Mustafizur then had Aasif Sheikh caught at cover to complete an excellent powerplay for Bangladesh.
How do you fare worse than a team that posted 31/4 in a powerplay? Ask Nepal. They made an awful start. Despite not losing a wicket in the first two overs, Nepal were pegged back in the third as Tanzim struck twice in the space of three deliveries. Aasif Sheikh tried to break the shackles with two boundaries in the following over but wickets kept falling. Mustafizur got Aasif as Nepal finished with 24/4 in the powerplay.
Nepal recovers in the middle overs
With Tanzim Hasan Sakib breathing fire, Najmul opted to bowl out the pacer in search of wickets. The move paid dividends as he struck in his final over as well to finish with stunning figures of 4/7. But from 26/5, Nepal staged a commendable recovery. With the target being just 107, they didn’t have to worry about the required rate. Dipendra Singh and Kushal Malla kept rotating strike and brought the equation down to 42 from the final five overs.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib bowled out in the seventh over, and picked up his fourth wicket when he had Jora caught at gully. He bowled a double-wicket maiden and a wicket maiden, and his 21 dot balls were the most by a bowler in a men’s T20 World Cup match.
From the start of the eighth over, there was a 23-ball boundary drought, with leg spinner Rishad Hossain especially getting sharp turn. Dipendra Singh Airee finally swept Rishad for four off the last ball of the 11th over that helped Nepal reach 50 in the next over.
Malla and Airee consolidated for Nepal, shifting gears in the 16th over when Malla slog-swept Mahmudullah for Nepal’s first six of the innings. One ball later, he nudged him fine on the leg side for a four to bring up the fifty partnership. They were left with 30 to win off the last four.
Mustafizur closes it out for Bangladesh
Two of those four overs were to be bowled by Mustafizur, and he broke the burgeoning stand with a back-of-length cutter that was skied over mid-off. Najmul Hossain Shanto did well to settle under it running back and holding on to a tricky chance. Just the one run came off the over.
Nepal attacked Taskin when Airee slapped a six over point but the bowler gave away only one more run in the next five balls and also sent Gulsan Jha back. Mustafizur then bowled five dots on the trot as Airee kept swinging and failing to make contact. Airee looked to knock the last ball of the over for a single, but ended up edging behind to make the penultimate over a wicket maiden.
Shakib Al Hasan, wicketless in the tournament before the game, picked the last two wickets to complete a team hat-trick. This also made it the first time Bangladesh won three games in a T20 World Cup.
For a brief moment, there was hope for Nepal. Kushal Malla hit a six and a four off Mahmudullah. There was also a terrific six from Dipendra off Taskin Ahmed that brought the equation down to 23 off 17. But on either side of that six were two brilliant overs from Mustafizur that proved to be too good for Nepal.
Mustafizur first removed Kushal in the 17th over and then delivered a stunning penultimate over to swing the game completely in favour of Bangladesh, Dipendra, who has a huge six-hitting reputation, failed to put bat on ball for five successive deliveries in the 19th over before edging the final ball to the keeper while attempting a single. Shakib then opened his account in the tournament with successive wickets in the final over to finish the game.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Najmul Hossain Shanto the winning skipper 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 the loosing skipper 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.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib Player of the Match for his 4 wickets 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.
Bangladesh are through to the Super 8s. A clinical bowling performance more than makes up for their lackluster show with the bat today. This is the lowest total ever defended in a T20 WC match and Nepal, much like the other day against South Africa, couldn’t back up a good show with the ball with a good enough batting performance. Defending just 106, Bangladesh would’ve felt they were at least 20 short but that said, this pitch had a lot in it for the bowlers.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib started things off in fabulous fashion as he ran through the top order. Nepal lost 5 in a hurry before there was a good 50-run stand between Malla and Dipendra Airee. They had a lot of work to do still though and they crumbled under pressure as Mustafizur and Shakib wrapped things up by picking up the remaining wickets.
A fiery opening spell from Tanzim Hasan Sakib powered Bangladesh to a slightly tense win over Nepal, sealing their progress to the Super Eight stage. For the second game in a row Nepal had a Full Member side on the ropes with their bowling performance in Kingstown, but their batting order was blown away by Bangladesh’s fast bowlers.
A win, let alone a comfortable one, looked like a tricky prospect for Bangladesh after they were bundled for 106. Having come within two runs of chasing down a slightly bigger target against South Africa, Nepal would have fancied their chances of bagging their first win against a Full Member team, but Tanzim scythed through their top order with stunning figures of 4-2-7-4 that reduced Nepal to 26 for 5.
While the low asking rate meant Nepal could still keep their chances alive, Mustafizur Rahman put on a death bowling masterclass when Nepal needed 30 off 24 to help Bangladesh pull off the lowest successful defence in a men’s T20 World Cup.
That wraps it up for Nepal, a campaign of what ifs. Like their skipper touched on, their batting simply wasn’t up to the mark and they couldn’t back their bowlers up. Bangladesh, meanwhile, will be pleased at having made it through to the Super 8s in what’s been a tough group. Nepal head home after an impressive campaign. Bangladesh travel to Antigua where they take on Australia in their first Super 8s game on June 20.