DHARAMSALA - Opener Tamim Iqbal struck an unbeaten 83 to guide Bangladesh past a spirited Netherlands by eight runs in their first group encounter of the World Twenty20 in Dharamsala on Wednesday.
Put into bat, Bangladesh suffered from a lack of partnerships but Tamim, with his fourth T20 half-century, almost single-handedly lifted the score to 153 for seven.
It was a disappointing show of batting from a side which sparkled in the recently concluded Asia Cup, where the hosts ended runners-up after a keenly contested final against India.
Tamin though remained unaffected with the wicket-fall as the left-hander smacked six boundaries and three sixes during his 58-ball stay. Netherlands medium-pacer Timm van der Gugten led the charge with three wickets as Paul van Meekeren and left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merve got three scalps between them.
The Dutch batsmen also put up a brave show to give Bangladesh a run for their money but ultimately experience prevailed and the minnows were restricted to 145 for seven in their 20 overs. Opener Stephen Myburgh provided a solid start to the Orange brigade and skipper Peter Borren took it forward but left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan's twin strike put a lid on Dutch hopes.
In the end, lower-order batsman Mudassar Bukhari provided a scare with his five-ball 14 but his runout spelt the end for Netherlands, who are making their third appearance in the tournament. Mashrafe Morataza-led Bangladesh are favourites to top their group and move into the Super 10 stage of the 16-team event.
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH:
Tamim Iqbal not out 83
Soumya Sarkar c Barresi b van Meekeren 15
Sabbir Rahman lbw b van der Merwe 15
Shakib Al Hasan c Myburgh b Borren 5
Mahmudullah b van der Gugten 10
Mushfiqur Rahim b van der Gugten 0
Nasir Hossain c Mudassar b van Meekeren 3
M Mortaza c Cooper b van der Gugten 7
Arafat Sunny not out 8
EXTRAS: (lb4, w3) 7
TOTAL: (7 wickets; 20 overs) 153
FOW: 1-18, 2-60, 3-78, 4-111, 5-112, 6-127, 7-137
BOWLING: Mudassar Bukhari 4-0-31-0, T van der Gugten 4-0-21-3, P van Meekeren 4-0-17-2, R van der Merwe 3-0-28-1, L van Beek 4-0-43-0, P Borren 1-0-9-1
NETHERLANDS:
S Myburgh b Nasir 29
W Barresi c Sabbir b Al-Amin 9
B Cooper b Shakib 20
P Borren c Nasir b Shakib 29
T Cooper c Arafat b Al-Amin 15
R van der Merwe c Mushfiqur b Mashrafe 1
P Seelaar not out 7
Mudassar Bukhari run out 14
L van Beek not out 4
EXTRAS: (b5, lb11, w1) 17
TOTAL: (7 wickets; 20 overs) 145
FOW: 1-21, 2-53, 3-77, 4-112, 5-114, 6-121, 7-140
BOWLING: Taskin Ahmed 4-0-21-0, Al-Amin Hossain 3-0-24-2, Arafat Sunny 2-0-10-0, Nasir Hossain 2-0-24-1, Mahmudullah 1-0-8-0, Mashrafe Mortaza 4-0-14-1, Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-28-2
TOSS: Netherlands
MAN OF MATCH: Tamim Iqbal (Ban)
UMPIRES: S Ravi (Ind), R Tucker (Aus)
TV UMPIRE: C Gaffaney (NZ)
MATCH REFEREE: A Pycroft (Zim)
