Bangladesh beat Nepal in a low-scoring affair to book their spot in T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s. Their young pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib set the tone with the new ball defending a target of 107. In doing so, Sakib didn’t just let the ball do the talking but was involved in a heated exchange with Nepal captain Rohit Paudel as well.
In the third over, Sakib was fired up after getting the wickets of Kushal Bhurtel and Anil Sah. Skipper Paudel was new to the crease. On the last ball, Paudel played a defensive shot. Sakib in his follow-through stared at Paudel and it led to a heated exchange between the two. Non-striker Aasif Sheikh tried to break them up before it could escalate. On-field umpires Ashan Raza and Sam Nogajski also intervened to get the fourth over underway.
Before the fourth over was bowled, the umpires called Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto to get his players in line to avoid an altercation.
Sakib wins the battle
In the battle between the two, Sakib had the last laugh. In the fifth over, Paudel slashed his bat at a delivery outside off stump. He found Rishad Hossain at gully and departed after scoring just one run from six deliveries and became Sakib’s third victim of the day.
Sakib was on a dot ball spree. After bowling a double-wicket maiden, he bowled a wicket-maiden. Shanto wanted him to continue. He continued after the completion of powerplay overs. On the last ball of his spell, he dismissed Sundeep Jora as Rishad took another catch at backward point. Nepal found themselves struggling at 26/5 after Sakib’s spell was done.
Record-breaking spell
The 21-year-old pacer conceded just seven runs from his quota of four overs and bagged four wickets. The only boundary came off the first ball of the run chase via an inside edge. He bowled a total of 21 dot balls, most by a bowler in a T20 World Cup match. Also, it is the most dot balls bowled by a Bangladesh bowler in T20Is.
Sakib was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ as Bangladesh won by 21 runs. It is the lowest target defended in T20 World Cup history.
“We just wanted to keep things simple. Not panic and bowl in good areas. We were very confident of defending this total. This bowling attack is beautiful. Everyone bowled well. Mustafizur bowled a wicket maiden under pressure at the death. I just wanted to execute my plans and that’s what I was focused on. We’re really excited to play in the Super Eights, we are very confident as well,” he said in the post-match presentation.
Bangladesh have qualified for the Super 8 stage where they will face Afghanistan, Australia and India. Sakib is currently Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
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