Netherlands gave Bangladesh a big scare before falling just short as the Tigers pulled off a cliffhanger by eight runs in their ICC World Twenty20 opener in Dharamsala on Wednesday.
The victory was not assured until the final over when Netherlands needed 17 runs but Taskin Ahmed kept his composure under pressure to give away just eight, helping Bangladesh make a winning start.
Tamim Iqbal batted out 20 overs to hit a calculative 83 off 58 balls, carrying Bangladesh almost single-handedly to a decent score of 153-7, which looked inadequate against the spirited Dutch team.
The Dutch knew it was their only opportunity if they are to make a mark in the tournament and progress beyond the qualifying stage and were ready to give everything they could for a win.
If a team gets that much desperate it is always difficult to face them and Bangladesh realised it with their every step during the game. Bangladesh also looked nervous as they came into the game with a point to prove.
It made them leaking few cheap runs in the field and they were not also helped by poor wicketkeeping of Mushfiqur Rahim, who conceded five byes, adding more pressure on the bowler.
In the southern corner of the gallery, a group of Dutch supporters had remained always vocal, cheering the Dutch team after every boundary they struck.
Bangladeshi supporters, who were not very short in numbers compared to their Dutch counterparts, had to remain satisfied watching them celebrate, especially during the second half of the innings when wicket was hard to come by.
It was not until the last over of skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza that Bangladesh could silence the Dutch supporters and take control of the game they were supposed to win without much hiccups otherwise.
Mashrafee bowled with his heart out to give away just three runs and took a vital wicket of Roelof van der Marewe, the former South African all-rounder, who recently changed his loyalty to play for the Dutch.
The overs turned the tide, requiring Dutch 39 runs to win from the last three overs. With Al-Amin Hossain and Taskin set to bowl the final three overs it was not going to be very easy for the European side.
Mashrafee finished with 1-14 but Al Amin nearly made a mess as he gave way 16 runs in the penultimate over, though he was successful in removing dangerman Tom Cooper in the first ball of the same over.
But Taskin did not lose his head and bowled few yorkers in the final over that any batsman in the world would find difficult to handle. Sakib al Hasan also played his part picking up two vital wickets, though the talismanic all-rounder continued his struggle with the bat making just five.
Despite Sakib’s poor batting form and a lack of big innings from other top-order batsmen, Bangladesh still looked poised for a challenging score once Tamim helped them cross 100-run mark in 13.1 overs.
With Mahmudullah, unbeaten in his last four innings, along with Tamim, the Tigers were expected to score at least 70 runs in the last seven overs, before Sydney-born pacer Timm van Gugten spoiled their plan.
Gugten, who finished with 3-21, bowled Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim in the same over slowing their progress and Bangladesh needed two sixes from Mashrafee and Arafat Sunny from the last two overs to cross past the 150-run mark.
-With New Age input
