On Sunday, Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe in a thrilling last-ball victory thanks to opener Najmul Shanto’s first T20 World cup half-century and three wickets from Taskin Ahmed. Blessing Muzarabani had the most wickets (13), and Afif Hossain scored 29 runs.
Table-toppers In a must-win matchup in Perth, India will play South Africa and Pakistan will play the Netherlands later that day. Bangladesh is ranked two spots higher than Zimbabwe, so they must win to keep their chances of making the semi-finals alive. In their last match, they lost to South Africa by 104 runs.
T20 World Cup | Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe!
Bangladesh, led by Shanto (71), achieved 150-7 on the Gabba surface in Brisbane during a nail-biting match in which Zimbabwe needed 16 runs off the final over but ultimately finished on 147-8. Bangladesh’s score after 10 overs was just 63-2. But Shanto took the initiative, scoring 40 runs in the next five overs before being dismissed for 71 off 55 balls (with seven fours and a six).
Soumya Sarkar, batting first for the winning side after captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat on a lovely day, was caught behind by the opposing team off the pace bowling of Muzarabani in the second over. At first, Shanto was alright, hitting two early boundaries as he added 22 runs with Liton Das. It was until Das ballooned a catch to Tendai Chatara off a slower delivery from Muzarabani.
Only two fielders were permitted outside the outfield boundary in the overs after Bangladesh’s six-over powerplay. In the end, the score was 32-2. Despite some sloppy fielding, Zimbabwe kept the score low (63-2) at the halfway stage. Owing to some economical bowling on a fast and bouncy pitch. Once Bangladesh got through that mark, they played more confidently and efficiently rotated the strike. With Shanto scoring their first T20 50 off of 45 balls.
Al Hasan has played in every T20 World Cup since 2007. He avoided being run out on 23 but was caught superbly by Muzarabani off-spinner Sean Williams five balls later. Ending a partnership of 54 runs. After Shanto extended his partnership with Hossain. And holed out to Craig Ervine, Bangladesh scored 47 runs in the final five overs.
Playing XIs
Bangladesh XI: Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan (wk). Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud.
Netherlands XI: Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c and wk). Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren.
