Bangladesh put in a clinical performance to defeat newcomers Nepal by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 in Chittagong yesterday.
The hosts, who fielded after winning the toss, restricted Nepal down to 126-5 in their 20 overs before reaching the modest target in just 15.3 overs.
Opener Anamul Haque scored a 33-ball 42 with five boundaries and two sixes and shared an opening stand of 63 with Tamim Iqbal (30). Shakib Al Hasan hit four sixes in his 37 not out and Sabbir Rahman made 21 not out to complete the chase.
Nepal’s modest score was built around a polished 35-ball 41 by skipper Paras Khadka and a 43-ball 40 by Sharad Vesawkar, who shared a 85-run stand for the fourth wicket. But the experienced pair failed to speed up things in the final overs against some tight Bangladeshi bowling.
Paceman Al-Amin Hossain was the pick of the home bowlers with 2-17 in four overs.
Hossain, who was adjudged Man of the Match, explained how difficult it was to do the job out in the middle.
“In the first over, I had a tough time controlling the ball because of the dew. I was thinking afterwards that I have to make amends in the next three overs.
“The wicket had grass, I had to make it count. I tried to do that,” said Al-Amin. “I bowled a few wides but I must say, I have never faced such dew in my life.
“I saw the seam was wet when I looked at it before bowling the second ball. I bowled cross-seam for a while and then I used the seam when it was better.”
The second straight win puts Bangladesh in a strong position to qualify for the Super 10 from Group A as one of the two teams from each group that will qualify for the Super 10 stage, starting from Friday. It features eight Test playing nations, including defending champions West Indies and former winners India, Pakistan and England.
Nepal coach Pubudu Dassanayake, was understandably pleased with what he saw from his team, despite the result.
“Batting 20 overs comfortably against a top quality team, that is also the home side, is an achievement,” said the former Sri Lanka and Canada player. “We did have few plans that we could not execute during the bowling part of the game. But this is part of the learning process.
“The boys have shown that they are up to it.”
Dassanayake was happy with the manner in which his team was shaping up and the brand of cricket they were playing.
“Looking at Nepal, the national team and the youngsters, they’re very sound technically. The most important part is that they train very hard and play very hard.
“That is what we are, our brand of cricket. If you saw the qualifiers in Dubai, we fought in every game to the last ball.
“Top quality fielding, the bowlers stuck to plans, the batsmen were well aware of what was needed in a chase, how to plan an innings. Today was a bit different, because of the occasion of playing against a full member country.”
While the loss meant that there was only a mathematical chance of Nepal going through to the next round, the coach made it clear that there was still a lot to play for.
“We just want to go out and win matches. We have our plans and would like to execute them against Afghanistan in our next match,” said Dassanayake. “The only chance for us is for Bangladesh to lose to Hong Kong. We can’t control that, but we want to win and end with four points.”
