Bangladesh 159 for 5 (Shakib 64*, Van Meekeren 2-15, Dutt 2-17) beat the Netherlands 134 for 8 (Engelbrecht 33, Vikramjit 26, Rishad 3-33) by 25 runs
The Netherlands’ hopes of progressing to the next stage of the T20 World Cup were dealt a telling blow after a 25-run loss to Bangladesh in Kingstown’s first International fixture in nearly a decade.
Chasing 160 on a flatter pitch compared to New York and Dallas, the Dutch were comfortably placed at 111 for 3 in the 15th over but lost four wickets for six runs in the space of 16 deliveries to squander a winning position.
The loss jeopardises their Super Eight qualification, needing a big win in their final group game against Sri Lanka on Sunday and hoping for Bangladesh to lose to Nepal.
Coming into the game with an element of the unknown, what with the Arnos Vale Ground having not hosted an International game since September 2014 or a Caribbean Premier League fixture, Scott Edwards won a crucial toss and inserted Bangladesh to bat after a 20-minute rain delay.
Off spinner Aryan Dutt, playing his first game in place of Teja Nidamanuru, struck twice in his first two overs as Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto reverse swept an innocuous ball to first slip before Sybrand Engelbrecht held on to a screamer, running nearly 26 metres and plucking the ball inches from the ground, to see off Litton Das.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had a welcome return to form, having previously gone 20 T20I innings without a 50-plus score, notching up an unbeaten 46-ball 64, a knock laced with nine boundaries.
Mahmudullah chipped in with a valuable 21-ball 25 and Jaker Ali (14* off 7) provided the finishing touches with Al Hasan taking off 47 off the last four overs.
Barring Dutt (2-17), Paul van Meekeren (2-15) and Tim Pringle (1-26), the Dutch bowlers struggled for fluency and adapting to the conditions, with the cross-breeze also adding to the challenge.
In response, Dutch openers Michael Levitt (18) and Max O’Dowd (12) got starts but failed to make it past the powerplay. Vikramjit Singh struck three sixes, expertly slog sweeping the spinners over the leg side, but was stumped trying to up the ante.
Collapse
Engelbrecht, coming off a crucial 40 in the previous game against South Africa, top scored with 33 and stitched a vital 42-run stand with Edwards but his dismissal – top edging a full ball from leg spinner Rishad Hossain – precipitated a collapse the Dutch could never recover from.
111 for 3 in the 15th over quickly became 117 for 7 in the 18th as Hossain turned the game on its head with a three-wicket haul after the Netherlands were comfortably placed needing 49 runs in 32 deliveries with seven wickets in hand. The last 32 deliveries, instead, bought just 23 runs at the expense of five wickets.
Dutt briefly resisted but found the going tough in the face of Mustafizur Rahman’s experience as the Dutch eventually finished on 134 for 8.
Challenging
“Probably on that wicket and assessing it when both teams had batted, they (Bangladesh) probably got a few too many runs there, a couple too many big overs and this led to a chase that was always going to be challenging especially at the back end with some of their experienced bowlers,” Dutch head coach Ryan Cook told a press conference.
“Having said that we put ourselves in a good position with a good partnership with Scott and Sybrand and you know with 49 to win off the last five overs, we were confident that we’d be able to chase those down.
“Obviously, I’ve been in the other dressing room when Fizz [Mustafizur Rahman] has been bowling those balls and watching guys swing and miss so to watch it from the other side now is a bit tougher but the guys will obviously take a lot of experience away from that and it is something that we prepared for [but] just weren’t able to execute on the day.”