After losing their first match against Scotland, the Bangla tigers made a comeback to defeat Oman by 26 runs at Al Amerat Cricket Ground on Tuesday.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan was the star of the match for with his all-round show. He first scored 42 off 29 to put his side in a strong position batting first and then picked 3/28 to help clinch the victory.
As it happened, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat first. Their start, however, wasn’t great as they only managed 29 runs in the powerplay with Liton Das (6) & Mehedi Hasan (0) back in the shed. Mohammad Naim and Shakib joined hands and rebuilt the innings slowly and steadily. They added 80 runs for the third wicket in nine overs before Akib Ilyas‘ direct throw sent Shakib on his way for a brilliant 29-ball-42.
Shakib’s dismissal triggered a collapse for Bangladesh as they kept losing wickets. Naim, who scored 64 off 50, holed out off Kaleemullah in the 17th over.
None of their lower order batters could make a contribution apart from Mahmudullah’s 17 off 10 as they were bowled out for 153 on the last ball of the innings. Bilal Khan was superb for Oman, picking 3 for 18 while Fayyaz Butt also picked 3 for 30 ,and Kaleemullah returned with 2 for 30.
Chasing the target, Oman started well despite the early loss of Ilyas (6) as Jatinder Singh and Kashyap Prajapati took them to 47 in 5.3 overs. Prajapati was caught behind on the next delivery by Mustafizur Rahman on 21 off 18.
Singh and Zeeshan Maqsood added 34 runs for the third wicket. With 74 needed off the last nine overs, Oman had a real chance of making history. But in the next over, Maqsood’s struggling knock of 12 off 16 came to an end after he was holed out at deep square leg, mistiming a slog sweep off Mehedi.
Oman were still ahead in the game, but their biggest hope Jatinder (40 off 33) timed a sweep brilliantly but straight to deep square leg off Shakib in the 13th over. Oman needed 64 from the last seven overs, but their lower middle order found themselves out of depth as they went from 101/4 to 119/9 in a span of three overs and eventually fell short by 26 runs.
Despite having plenty of opportunities to assert themselves in the game, Bangladesh failed to take those. After having the upper hand for 34 overs, Oman’s moment just slipped away, and the Bangla tigers made a terrific comeback with the ball and came home in a battle of nerves.
Mustafizur picked 4/36 for Bangladesh while Shakib returned with 3/28. Mehedi Hasan’s tight spell of 1/14 in four made a major difference. Shakib was awarded the ‘player of the match’ for his all-round contribution.
Oman are currently second in Group B with two points and a net run-rate of +0.613. Bangladesh are third with two points and +0.500 NRR. Oman will next take on the group leaders Scotland and Bangladesh will face Papua New Guinea. The equation for both these teams is simple – win and advance to Super 12s.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh – 153 in 20 overs (Naim 64, Al Hasan 42; Khan 3/18, Butt 3/30)
Oman – 127/9 in 20 overs (Singh 40, Prajapati 21; Rahman 4/36, Al Hasan 3/28)
