Dubai: Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round performance, Mohammad Naim’s fighting fifty, and Mustafizur Rahman’s superb bowling effort led Bangladesh to a comprehensive 26-run victory over Oman in the 6th match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, here on Tuesday.With this win, Bangladesh kept their hopes alive for a spot in the Super 12s. They will face Papua New Guinea in their next match.
Riding on fighting knocks by Mohammad Naim (64 off 50) and Shakib Al Hasan (42 off 29), Bangladesh posted a total of 153 all out in 20 overs.
Chasing a fighting total, Oman lost the wicket of Aaqib Ilyas in the second over. However, Jatinder Singh and Kashyap Prajapati made full use of the fielding restrictions and kept the scoreboard ticking. Prajapati survived two dropped catches, with Mustafizur Rahman and Mahmud Ullah at fault for the chances.
But, Mustafizur, who returned for the last over of the Powerplay dismissed Prajapati for 21. On the other hand, Jatinder continued to attack even after the first six overs, hitting Shakib for a six and a four off consecutive balls.
Oman were 70/2 and needed 84 from 10 overs, but their chase was derailed after the drinks break with two wickets falling in two overs. Mahedi Hasan broke the 34-run stand between Jatinder Singh and Zeeshan Maqsood with the Oman skipper holing out in the deep to a great diving catch by Mustafizur.
In the very next over, the pendulum swung Bangladesh’s way when the well-set Jatinder found Liton Das at deep square leg. A couple of quiet overs pushed the asking rate over 10 for the last five overs. Oman buckled under mounting pressure and lost three wickets in the next two overs, with Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, and Naseem Khushi all departing for single-digit scores.
Back into the attack, Mustafizur picked up two more wickets and eventually finished with figures of 4/36. Oman batted out the 20 overs but fell short by 26 runs after it looked at one point that they would be cruising to a win.
Earlier, batting first, Bangladesh were off to a poor start as they lost the wickets of Liton Das (6) and Mahedi Hasan (0) cheaply. While Das was dismissed by Bilal Khan in the 3rd over, Fayyaz Butt got rid of Hasan in the 5th over as Bangladesh limped to 29/2.
Two quick wickets in the powerplay forced Mohammad Naim and Shakib Al Hasan to have a cautious approach with the bat. The pair rotated the strike regularly and hit occasional boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Naim, who was drafted into the playing XI for this game, got two lives in two overs. The first time he was dropped by Jatinder Singh, who parried the ball over for a six, then by Kashyap Prajapati. Riding their luck, Bangladesh managed to revive the innings, as they went into the drinks break at 63/2.
In the next three overs, Bangladesh scored 35 runs, with Naim and Shakib both taking the attack to the Oman bowlers. It took a moment of brilliance from Aaqib Ilyas whose direct hit caught a well-set Shakib short of his crease. Nurul Hasan, who came to bat next, didn’t last long as he holed out in the deep to Sandeep Goud.
Naim, at the other end, punished the Oman bowler and got to a half-century with a thumping four. But, unfortunately, with wickets falling at the other end, he was running out of partners at the other end and got out trying to accelerate the scoring.
After Naim’s wicket, Bangladesh’s lower order didn’t contribute much. Oman were brilliant in the death overs, giving away just 33 runs while scalping six wickets to skittle Bangladesh out for 153 in 20 overs.
Fayyaz Butt and Bilal Khan were the most successful of the bowlers with three wickets each while Kaleemullah picked two.