Bangladesh keep Super 12 hopes alive with victory over Oman

Chasing 154 to secure qualification for the Super 12s, Oman were in the ascendancy at the end of the powerplay with the scoreboard showing 47 for 2 before spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Mahedi Hasan flipped the game on its head

Al Amerat (Oman): Bangladesh 153, Oman 127-9 - Bangladesh won by 26 runs

Scorecard

Bangladesh kept their hopes of qualifying for the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup alive after completing an 26-run victory over Oman.

Requiring a win to remain in the tournament following Scotland’s victory over Papua New Guinea earlier in the day, Bangladesh were beholden to Oman’s poor aerial fielding and a fine third-wicket stand between Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Naim as they struggled to 153 all out in the first innings.

Spinners Shakib and Mahedi Hasan then starred with the ball, putting the brakes on Oman’s chase to seal a crucial victory for the Tigers. Shakib finished with figures of 3 for 28 while Mahedi took an economical 1 for 14.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Bangladesh struggled once again in the powerplay, slipping to 29 for 2 at the six over mark. Liton Das was the first to depart, pinned lbw by Bilal Khan for six just one ball after being dropped by Kashyap Prajapati, and was followed back to the dressing room two overs later by Mahedi, who was caught and bowled by Fayyaz Butt for a duck.

The arrival of Shakib tipped the game in Bangladesh’s favour, with the allrounder scoring 42 runs off just 29 deliveries as part of an 80-run third-wicket stand with Naim. The latter player was fortunate to be dropped twice early on in his innings, first by Jatinder Singh for 18 and then by Prajapati for 26.

^{Jatinder Singh top-scored for Oman with 40 off 33 deliveries}

However, when Aqib Ilyas completed a superb runout to remove Shakib in the 14th over, the wheels came off for Bangladesh, with their remaining seven wickets falling for just 52 runs.

Nural Hasan was the first to depart, caught by Sandeep Goud off the bowling of Zeeshan Maqsood in the 15th over, before seamer Kaleemullah struck twice in the 17th to remove Afif Hossain and Naim, the latter dismissed for a fine 64 (50 balls).

The final four wickets fell in the space 12 balls, with Butt and Bilal Khan taking two apiece as Bangladesh were all out for 153. Khan was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 18 from his four overs, while Singh made up for his earlier drop with fine catches to dismiss Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin.

Oman’s chase got off to a poor start, with Ilyas falling to Mustafizur Rahman in the second over. However, they quickly recovered and made short work of Bangladesh’s seamers and sloppy fielding to finish the powerplay on a commanding 47 for 2, Rahman removing Prajapati for 21 to pick up his second of the day.

The introduction of spin duo Shakib and Mahedi– Bangladesh’s best bowler against Scotland -  slowed the scoring, but it took until the 12th over for the pair to make a telling breakthrough.

With the second ball of his third over, Mahedi removed Oman’s skipper Zeeshan Maqsood for 12 and 10 balls later, Shakib bagged the crucial wicket of Singh. The opener, caught by Das, departed for a well made 40 off 33 and took with him all hopes of an Oman victory.

The hosts collapsed from 90 for 4 to 112 for 9 in the space of five overs following Singh's departure, with Saifuddin collecting the wicket of Goud, and Shakib and Rahman taking two apiece. 

Rahman, however, was denied a second T20 World Cup five-for, finishing with figures of 4 for 36 as Khan and Nadeem clung on to finish not out at the end.