Chittagong, March 14: Hosts Bangladesh beat Netherlands comfortably by six wickets at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, the same venue where they had defeated England in a thriller last week.
Losing the toss did not affect Bangladesh as skipper Shakib Al Hasan observed, "We would have bowled first because of the early morning moisture."
Bowling Netherlands out for a paltry 160, Bangladesh started their innings losing their first wicket in the first over without a run on the board.
After Tamim Iqbal was bowled by Bukhari (1/14), his partner Imrul Kayes dropped anchor and led the Bangladesh chase scoring 73 not out. He was ably supported by Junaid Siddique (35 runs) and Shahriar Nafees (37 runs) to reach the target with 52 balls to spare. Coming in when Bangladesh required only eight runs to win, Mushfiqur Rahim (11 not out) hit Tom Cooper (2/33) over the ropes to seal the victory with a six.
Earlier in the day, Netherlands’ batting line-up failed to come up with the goods against Bangladesh’s bowling attack.
The opening partnership between Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi yielded only 28 runs in nine overs. After the 100 came up for Netherlands in the 32nd over, they managed to add only 40 more runs in the next ten with the scoreboard reading140/8 after 42 overs.
The subsequent scampering for runs resulted in four run-outs. Ryan ten Doeschate, though, remained unbeaten on 53 runs as the rest of the Dutch batsmen struggled to negotiate the left-arm spin attack of Abdur Razzak (3/29), Suhrawadi Shuvo (1/33) and Shakib Al Hasan (1/38). 29 overs of left-arm spin gave away only 100 runs and claimed five wickets. Although pacer Shafiul Islam was unfortunate to not get a wicket, he was the most economical of all giving away only 15 runs in his 9.2 overs.
With victory over Netherlands, Bangladesh remain in the reckoning for a quarter-final berth and will take on South Africa in Dhaka on March 19 in their last game in the league phase.
Languishing at the bottom of the points table, the Netherlands will play Ireland on March 18.
Man-of-the-Match: Left-hand batsman Imrul Kayes for his unbeaten 73 runs off 113 balls that included six boundaries
Brief Score: Bangladesh 166/4 in 41.2 overs (Imrul Kayes 73, Junaid Siddique 35, Shahriar Nafees 37, Tom Cooper 2/33 ) Netherlands 160 all out in 46.2 overs (Ryan ten Doeschate 53*, Abdur Razzak 3/29) by 6 wickets.
