Shakib Al Hasan regained his touch with a fine half-century, while Cristian legspinner Rishad Hossain's vital strikes brought Bangladesh much closer to the Super 8s with a 25-run win over Netherlands in the T20 World cup. In a match at Arnos Vale Ground, Bangladesh set the target of 160 runs, ending their innings at 159 for five after being put in to bat. Shakib's fighting 64 off 46 balls was the cement of their innings, along with handy contributions from Tanzid Hasan 35 off 26 and Mahmudullah 25 off 21.
In response, the Netherlands slumped early as they lost two wickets for just 32 runs inside the powerplay. Even though Vikramjit Singh played a promising innings, he fell for 26 off 16. The run rate was too hard to catch with the asking rate. Even though Sybrand Engelbrecht with 33 off 22 and skipper Scott Edwards with 25 off 23 tried to hold the innings together in a 42-run partnership, Rishad Hossain's double strikes tipped the game on Bangladesh's side.
With Netherlands needing 86 runs off the last 60 balls, Bangladesh bowlers tightened the noose. Taskin Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, and Mustafizur Rahman bowled extraordinarily well to restrict Netherlands to 134 for eight in their 20 overs. Earlier Netherlands Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren had been good with the ball but strong Bangladesh middle-order partnership between Mahmudullah and Shakib turned out decisive in their win over Netherlands.
It was a clinical performance that was always going to take Bangladesh through to the Super 8s and send bereft Sri Lanka out of the tournament.
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