TheSportsCampus

Bangladesh did their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the ICC Cricket World Cup a lot of good by crushing Netherlands by 6 wickets at Chittagong on Monday. Batting first, the Netherlands were bowled out for just 160, contributing to their own demise with as many as 4 run-outs. Bangladesh chased down the target with 52 balls to spare courtesy of an excellent unbeaten 73 from Imrul Kayes. The win means Bangladesh leapfrogged England into fourth place in the Group B table with 6 points from 5 games. They play South Africa in their final Group game in Mirpur on Saturday, and will pray that the West Indies do them a huge favour by beating England in Chennai on Thursday, making the result of their match against the Proteas relevant only from a standings perspective.

The Netherlands won the toss and opted to make first use of the pitch. It was a decision which pleased Shakib Al Hasan, who was more than happy to have a bowl first in an attempt to take advantage of any early morning moisture. There were changes to both teams with Netherlands giving off-spinner Adeel Raja his first game of the tournament, while Bangladesh dropped Raqibul Hasan and Naeem Islam in favour of Shahriar Nafees and Suhrawadi Shuvo.

The Netherlands got off to a typically sedate start, scoring just 28 runs in the first 9 overs with the help of just two hits to the fence (one actually went over). Shakib, who came on to replace fellow left-arm spinner, Abdur Razzak effected the first break through, trapping Wesley Barresi in front of his stumps for 10. At the other end, Shafiul Islam completed an incredible opening spell of 6 overs for 7 runs, but was left unrewarded in the wickets column.

Razzak switched ends and came on to replace Shafiul and struck with his second delivery as pinch hitter Mudassar Bukhari (6) top edged an attempted sweep. The fall of two wickets resulted in another run of low scoring overs and the Netherlands had made just 54 runs in the first 20 overs.

Eric Szwarczynski's painstaking innings of 28 from 63 deliveries was brought to an end in the most unfortunate fashion as he was run-out at the non-striker's end backing up too far. He was replaced by Ryan ten Doeschate, batting far too low at no.5. Ten Doeschate's presence seemed to give Tom Cooper some confidence and he dispatched consecutive deliveries from Shakib to the boundary in the 25th over. Sadly though, just as he had got going, Cooper was another run out victim as a misunderstanding with Ten Doeschate caught him out of his crease. The dismissal was a result of some smart work by Mushfiqur Rahim, who made up for dropping the batmsan earlier.

Netherlands brought up their 100 in the 32nd over and were fortunate not to lose Ten Doeschate, who was dropped by Imrul Kayes when on 14. Alexei Kervezee threatened to cut lose at the other end, hitting Rubel Hossain for a couple of boundaries, but was stumped in the following over for 19. Kervezee's dismissal set off a mini-collapse with none of the batsman that followed getting to double figures. Ten Doeschate kept up his end and did the bulk of the scoring. He brought up a handy half-century to push the Dutch past 150, but the journeyman allrounder ran out of partners in the end and was left stranded on 53 as the Netherlands were bowled out for 160 with 3.4 overs to spare. Abdur Razzak was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3-29 from his 10 overs.

Bangladesh's reply got off to a rocky start with Tamim Iqbal falling for naught in the very first over by Bukhari. Bangladesh opted for the extra cautious approach and decided to see the new ball out. With a paltry target facing them, they sensibly decided to make sure they collect the two points as their first priority and worry about things like net run rate once the match was firmly in their grasp. Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique made just 30 runs in the first 10 overs, though ensured that Bangladesh did not have any further setbacks.

A poor 11th over from Ryan ten Doeschate allowed the batsmen to up the tempo as the Dutch allrounder was hit for a boundary off a no ball and then followed it up with consecutive wides. The 5-over bowling powerplay eased the nerves of the fans as 34 runs were scored in that period with Kayes advancing to 30 and Siddique keeping pace with him on 29.

Kayes got a lion share of the strike for a period to follow and the Bangladesh opener brought up an excellent half-century off 68 balls in the 21st over. Junaid Siddique fell in the same over for 35, hitting a rank long hop from Peter Borren straight down the throat of the fielder at short extra-cover. Siddique had done his job though, sharing in a 92-run stand with Kayes, and Bangladesh needed just another 69 runs for a vital win.

Siddique was replaced by Shahriar Nafees. The former ICL rebel looked very scratchy early on in his innings and was fortunate to survive despite being repeatedly beaten in the flight by Pieter Seelar and Adeel Raja. He did look a lot better though when he used his feet to the spinners and brought out his favoured sweep shot, picking up the odd boundary in the process. The veteran brought up 2000 runs in One Day Internationals with a lofted on-drive, thus becoming the 5th Bangladeshi batsman to reach that landmark. He did though become Tom Cooper's first victim, bowled round his legs for 37.

Shakib joined Kayes out in the middle with only 10 more runs required to win, but fell trying to clear the infield, falling for 1 to a tremendous catch by Ten Doeschate. Bangladesh fortunately had plenty of time on their hands and despite some nervy moments towards then end, wicketkeeper batmsan Mushfiqur Rahim and Imrul Kayes took their side home with 8 overs to spare. Kayes finished unbeaten on 73 from 113 balls, the perfect innings given the situation and he was rewarded for his effort with the Man of the Match award.

While Bangladesh turns their attention to the England - West Indies clash at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, the Netherlands will be eagerly awaiting their last match in this World Cup campaign against Ireland. The Dutch have been unfortunate to be in the tougher of the two groups, and had they been pitted against the likes of Canada and Kenya, they could well have finishing higher up the table. As luck would have it, they now come up against a plucky Ireland side, and will be desperately hoping to walk away with atleast a win to show for their trip to the sub-continent.

Teams:

Bangladesh - Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddiqui, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Shahriar Nafees, Mushiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Suhrawadi Shuvo Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain.

Netherlands - Eric Szwarczynski, Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Tom Lexley William Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee, Tom de Grooth, Atse Buurman (wk), Peter Borren (c), Pieter Seelaar, Adeel Raja.

Mini Scorecard:

Netherlands 160 all out, 46.2 overs (3.45 runs per over)
Ryan ten Doeschate 53* (71) Abdur Razzak 3-29
Tom Cooper 29 (41) Suhrawadi Shuvo 1-33

Bangladesh 166/4, 41.2 overs (4.01 runs per over)
Imrul Kayes 73* (113) Tom Cooper 2-33
Shahriar Nafees 37 (60) Bukhari 1-14

Bangladesh win by 6 wickets with 8.4 overs to spare

Man of the Match: Imrul Kayes

Also Read: South Africa vs Ireland, England vs West Indies

File Photograph Copyright: BCB