Shakib finds form as Bangladesh post 159 for five against Netherlands

Shakib Al Hasan (Pic: AFP)

The seasoned Shakib Al Hasan roared back to form with a sublime 46-ball 64 as Bangladesh posted a competitive 159 for five against Netherlands in their must-win group match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday.

Besides Shakib, Tanzid Hasan struck 35 off 26 balls and Mahmudullah chipped in with 25 off 21. Jaker Ali came in and blazed away to 14 in just 7 balls.

With Bangladesh starting their innings with two left-handers, Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards tossed the new ball to off-spinner Aryan Dutt in the second over, and the move paid instant dividends as they got the big wicket of Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (1).

The Dutch would do well to thank the Bangladesh captain for his horrendous shot selection as he went for a needless reverse sweep to be out caught in the first slip.

Dutt also accounted for Litton Das at the beginning of fourth over thanks to a stunning catch in the deep by a sprinting Sybrand Engelbrecht. After Das swept Dutt towards square leg, Engelbrecht covered a lot of ground and dived full-length to pull off the catch.

The shot Das played was also unnecessary given that Tanzid Hasan had picked up two boundaries and a six in the previous over. For the maximum, Tanzid danced down the ground and flayed it over covers.

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The only change in the Dutch line-up for this vital T20 World Cup 2024 Group D match, Dutt vindicated the team management's decision by returning excellent figures of 2/17 in his full quota of four overs. Paul van Meekeren (2/15) was also brilliant with the ball.

As many as 18 came off the fourth over bowled by Vivian Kingma and Bangladesh were on their way.

Struggling for form prior to this game, Shakib collected four boundaries in the sixth over, which yielded 19 runs, as Bangladesh reached 54 for two at the end of powerplay.

Meanwhile, Tanzid tried to hit van Meekeren against the wind and paid the price, holing out to Bas de Leede in the outfield.

Bangladesh's two most experienced players, Mahmudullah and Shakib then added 41 runs for the fourth wicket to prop up the team.

However, as the innings entered its final stretch, Mahmudullah, having hit two sixes and two furs, was done in by the strong wind as Engelbrecht completed another good catch near the ropes.

(With agency inputs)