Shakib-Rishad lead Bangladesh closer to Super 8

|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan finally got some runs with his bat at St. Vicent in West Indies Thursday as he hit an important unbeaten fifty for his team and himself to lead Bangladesh to a very comfortable win of 25 runs over Netherlands and takes the team closer to Super 8 of the T20 World Cup.

A double strike from Rishad Hossain and a masterclass in death-over bowling by Mustafizur Rahman secured a crucial 25-run victory over the Dutch, who were chasing 160 runs.

Rishad finished with impressive figures of 3-33, with all three of his wickets coming in the 15th and 18th overs, effectively turning the tide in favor of the Tigers as the match became increasingly tense.

Mustafizur was equally effective, delivering superbly in the 17th and 19th overs, conceding only four runs and taking one wicket, which solidified Bangladesh's convincing win.

Despite a threatening 48-run partnership between Sybrand Engelbrecht (33) and captain Scott Edwards, Rishad's dismissal of Engelbrecht and Mustafizur's removal of Edwards decisively swung the match in Bangladesh's favor.

Earlier, the 37-year-old former captain Shakib recorded his 13th fifty in the format off 38 balls with seven fours as international cricket returned to Arnos Vale for the first time in 10 years.

Player of the match Shakib went on to finish undefeated on 64 off 46 deliveries having crunched nine fours in total.

Victory in the Group D match allowed Bangladesh to take a huge step closer to the Super Eights alongside pool leaders South Africa who have already secured qualification.

Opener Tanzid Hasan was also in the runs, stroking 35 off 26 balls with five fours and one six.

Bangladesh started their campaign with a two-wicket win over Sri Lanka before suffering an agonising four-run loss to South Africa.

The Dutch also went into Thursday's game with two points after defeating Nepal by six wickets before losing to South Africa by four wickets.

Off-spinner Aryan Dutt was drafted into the Dutch side in place of Teja Nidamanuru and repaid his team's faith by taking the first two Bangladesh wickets to fall.

He sent back skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (one) and Liton Das (one) to have the Tigers wobbling at 23-2.

Shakib and Tanzid steadied the ship with a 48-run partnership for the third wicket.

Mahmudullah added a valuable late 25 runs off 21 balls with two fours and a pair of sixes with Bangladesh taking 54 off the last five overs.