Despite having a good start, Bangladesh only managed to give the Netherlands a 145-run target in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2022 against the Netherlands in Hobert.
Afif Hossain posted the highest score, 38 runs off 27 balls, with two fours and two sixes. But he was dismissed when he needed to press the accelerator. Najmul Hossain Shanto scored 25, Soumya Sarkar posted 14, and Mosaddek Hossain scored 20 for the Tigers.
Bangladesh lost five wickets while going from 43 to 76. That was the best part of the match so far for the Netherlands, who were quite impressive in their bowling. They took wickets when they needed them most, and thus, Bangladesh failed to have a challenging total.
Soumya and Shanto managed a good start, posting 43 runs in their opening partnership. But they departed in a span of seven balls. Right after the openers departed, Bangladesh lost two more quick wickets as Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan fell for nine and seven respectively.
After the 9.3 overs, the rain came in and the players left the field. The match resumed after the conditions improved.
Read: T20 World Cup: Liton, Shakib fall for 9 and 7
In the first five overs, Bangladesh posted 43 for none. But on the first ball of the sixth over bowled by Paul van Meekeren, Bangladesh lost Soumya for 14 off 13 balls. On the first ball of the seventh over, Bangladesh lost Najmul Hossain Shanto as well, who was playing well.
Shanto made 25 off 20 balls with four fours. Shanto looked to sweep towards the short leg boundary against the spin, but he could not make it properly. Van Beek took an easy catch at midwicket.
Liton looked shaky from the start of his innings. He played a few loose shots before falling prey to another loose shot. It was a short ball from Van Been. Liton tried to clear through the off region but ended up with a loose shot.
Shakib fell prey to Shariz Ahmed. The left-handed batter tried to play a big shot, but De Leede took an outstanding catch at deep midwicket. Mosaddek Hossain smashed 20 off just 12 balls, which helped Bangladesh to get a total. That might be good one of the Tigers can bowl well.
For the Netehrands, who won the toss and opted to bowl first, Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede took two wickets each.
Bangladesh have never played a T20 match in Australia before this one. But will they be able to defend a 145-run target they set for the Netherlands? The Dutch side will surely pose a strong challenge to continue their good run in the T20 World Cup 2022 that started well in the first round.
Bangladesh XI: Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman
Netherlands XI: MP O'Dowd, Vikram Singh, BFW de Leede, TLW Cooper, CN Ackermann, SA Edwards, TJG Pringle, L van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, FJ Klaassen, PA van Meekeren