Bangladesh Secures Super Eight Spot by Defeating Nepal

In their final group stage match of the ICC T20 World Cup, Bangladesh faced Nepal with the straightforward equation of winning to secure a place in the Super Eight. Despite the crucial nature of the match, the Bangladeshi batters underperformed, but excellent bowling, particularly by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, led to a victory.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, Saint Vincent. Bangladesh, without making any changes to their playing XI, were bowled out for 106 runs in 19.3 overs due to a batting collapse. In reply, Nepal was bowled out for 85 runs, leading to a 21-run victory for Bangladesh, ensuring their spot in the Super Eight.

Bangladesh's innings began poorly, losing opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim on the very first ball, caught off Sompal Kami. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, coming in at number three, managed only 4 runs before being bowled by Dipendra Singh Airee after facing just 5 balls.

Litton Das also failed to deliver, scoring only 10 runs from 12 balls, including one boundary. Despite starting with a boundary, Towhid Hridoy failed to reach double figures, getting out for 9 runs off 7 balls. By the time Bangladesh had scored just 30 runs, they had already lost 4 wickets.

The team then attempted to recover with a partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad. However, Riyad was run out due to a mix-up, scoring 13 runs off 13 balls, including 2 boundaries.

Shakib Al Hasan didn’t last much longer either, getting out after scoring a team-high 17 runs from 22 balls, including 2 boundaries. Only Zakir Ali Anik (12) and Rishad Hossain (13) managed to reach double figures after that.

Ultimately, Bangladesh was bowled out for 106 runs in 19.3 overs. Taskin Ahmed (12*) and Mustafizur Rahman (3) added 18 runs for the last wicket, helping Bangladesh surpass the 100-run mark.

For Nepal, Sompal Kami, Dipendra Singh Airee, Rohit Paudel, and Sandeep Lamichhane each took 2 wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 106 runs.

Nepal’s innings started with a boundary but was soon disrupted by Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who bowled the second over and took 2 wickets without conceding any runs. He bowled Kushal Bhurtel and had Anil Shah caught by Najmul Hossain Shanto. Sakib continued his dominance, taking another wicket in his third over by having Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel caught by Rishad Hossain. Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Asif Sheikh. On the last ball of his fourth over, Tanzim bowled Sandeep Jha, leaving Nepal at 26 for 5. With 21 dot balls out of 24, Tanzim achieved his career-best bowling figures of 4-2-7-4.

Despite losing 5 wickets for 26 runs in 7 overs, Nepal did not give up. Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee put together a 52-run partnership that troubled Bangladesh. Mustafizur Rahman broke this stand by dismissing Malla for 27 runs. Mustafiz then took another wicket, finishing with figures of 4 overs, 1 maiden, 7 runs, and 3 wickets.

In the penultimate over, Mustafizur bowled a maiden and took the wicket of Dipendra Singh Airee. Shakib Al Hasan bowled the final over, taking 2 wickets in 3 balls to bowl out Nepal.

With this victory over Nepal, Bangladesh confirmed their place in the Super Eight, where they will face Australia, India, and Afghanistan.