Tamim Iqbal came up trumps in the battle of Bangladesh at New Road in Worcester on Tuesday night as his Nottinghamshire beat Shakib Al Hasan’s Worcestershire by ten runs in the Friends Life t20.
The left-handed opener hammered 35 off 25 balls with the help of three boundaries and one six that made a dent in the member’s stand roof. His innings, and that of his opening partner Alex Hales (39), gave Nottinghamshire a brilliant start but their middle-order bungled up the act. They were bowled out for 152, which was however enough to beat the home side who ended with 142 for five.
With the win, Nottinghamshire became the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals.
But it was the battle between the two Tigers that kept everyone up. After attempting two reverse-sweeps, Tamim swept the next one conventionally down to Moeen Ali, who dropped after diving sideways. In Moeen’s first over, Shakib dropped a sitter at long-off off Tamim before the Chittagonian nailed one over Shakib and into the stands for his only six. But his innings ended next ball when he was stumped by Ben Scott for 35.
Shakib bowled almost as perfectly as a Twenty20 bowler could bowl but his batting remained unconvincing as he scratched around for a 22-ball 20 with a solitary boundary.
Coincidentally, it was Tamim who held his catch off a Steven Mullaney full-toss.
Moeen’s half-century off 35 balls was not enough for Worcestershire as they lost with five wickets in hand in the end.
-With The Daily Star input
