Bangladesh’s 25-run win over the Netherlands in their important Group D clash came as a bit of a relief, considering Bangladesh’s recent performances in the Twenty20 format.
The T20 World Cup preparation for Bangladesh was anything but perfect as they conceded the series 1-2 against lower-ranked USA just a week before the mega event began.
But a crucial victory against Sri Lanka, a last-ball defeat to South Africa and a compact win over the Dutch mean Bangladesh are almost through to the Super 8s.
Group D was considered the group of death prior to the tournament and as things stand, Bangladesh are on verge of qualification for the next stage which means the Tigers did a good job.
Bangladesh had to deal with tremendous pressure in the starting phase of their T20 World Cup campaign as confidence was low after the series loss to the USA and due to the struggling batting line-up.
The top-order has not clicked yet and inconsistent performance from the top three was a major talking point prior to the tournament.
Skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto is off-form with the bat and the captain is certainly feeling the pressure right now for failing to lead from the front.
Shakib al Hasan’s performance with the willow also came under scrutiny as the veteran all-rounder was not at his near best in T20 format for a long time.
Although Liton Das and Shanto failed to give the side a solid start, Shakib this time stood tall and played a crucial innings for Bangladesh to save the day and lay the foundation for a challenging total.
Young Tanzid Hasan Tamim also played with a brave heart and unleashed some attacking shots with proper intent despite the fall of two early wickets.
Tanzid’s flat six over the cover region after charging down the ground in the third over was a good attacking display of batting in the powerplay.
He was hit by a bouncer a couple of deliveries later.
The ball hit his helmet’s front side and struck the visor but the left-hander responded well in the very next delivery with a proper cut shot, striking a four through point region.
Shakib’s unbeaten 64 was easily the highlight of Bangladesh’s batting but Tanzid’s 35 off 26 was a good-looking innings which gave them a good start despite losing a couple of wickets early.
Mahmudullah played a handy 25 off 21 and Jaker Ali Anik’s short but impactful 14 off seven deliveries with three boundaries all took Bangladesh to a good total.
Batting has been a concern for Bangladesh in recent times but a good overall display in the middle part and late stage of the innings helped produce a respectable total on the board.
Bangladesh players’ body language was positive when they came to defend 159.
The bowling unit knew they had to hit the deck hard and be spot on to restrict the Dutch.
This T20 World Cup showed so far that there is little difference among teams as one good innings from the opponent or two-three costly overs can change the game.
The Netherlands made a decent start but Taskin Ahmed got the breakthrough, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib later took a sharp rebound catch when he caught and bowled Max O’Dowd in the sixth over.
Inclusion of Tanzim in the T20 World Cup squad instead of Saifuddin paved the way for a lot of argument prior to the tournament but Tanzim has been bowling impressively in the last few matches, and showing why selectors put their trust in him.
Mustafizur Rahman did what he usually does, keeping the opposition batters in check and taking crucial wickets, and the left-arm pacer was brilliant in his spell of 4-0-12-1.
But one of the real findings for Bangladesh in this world event would be Rishad Hossain.
The promising leg-spinner is showing what exactly Bangladesh were missing in their white-ball bowling attack.
Rishad bowled a game-changing spell against Sri Lanka and was adjudged player of the match.
And against the Netherlands, the leggie bagged two important wickets at a crucial stage of the game when the Dutch looked on course to chasing down 160.
That double-wicket over by Rishad could easily be considered as the turning point in the Tigers’ bowling.
In terms of pen and paper, Bangladesh should not have worried that much against the Netherlands and Nepal, but considering the recent form in T20 Internationals and inconsistent batting performance, the Dutch encounter was a tough hurdle for the Tigers, which they eventually crossed with some ease.
Bangladesh have performed well as a team overall in the group stage, something that will stand them in good stead ahead of the business phase of the tournament.
