Bangladesh Victorious Over England & Netherlands

Bangladesh beat Netherlands to stay on course for quarterfinal

Chittagong, March 14 (IANS) Imrul Kayes stroked an unbeaten 73 as Bangladesh overwhelmed the Netherlands by six wickets in a World Cup Group B match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here Monday to stay on course for a quarterfinal berth.

The Netherlands were bowled out for 160 and Bangladesh reached the target in 41.2 overs.

It was a must-win game for Bangladesh, who now need to beat South Africa Saturday to keep their hopes alive for a quarterfinal berth. Bangladesh, who beat England in the last match, are on six points from five matches.

Kayes shared a 92-run stand for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique (35) after pacer Mudassar Bukhari bowled Tamim Iqbal in the very first over for a duck.

Siddique hit four boundaries in his 53-ball 35 and was caught by Pieter Seelaar off Peter Borren in the 21st over.

Shahriar Nafees chipped in with 37 runs off 60 balls with four boundaries.

Bangladesh bowled a disciplined line. Abdur Razzak, who took three wickets for 29 runs in his 10 overs, led the Bangladeshi attack, which dismissed the Dutch in 46.2 overs. Ryan ten Doeschate remained unbeaten on 53 off 71 balls which included two fours and a six.

The Dutch innings was also marked by four run outs.

Electing to bat, the Dutch were off to a slow start with openers Wesley Barresi (10) and Eric Szwarczynski (28) rustling up just 28 runs in 9 overs before the former was trapped leg before by Shakib Al Hasan in the 10th over. Razzak soon got Mudassar Bukhari (6) in the thirteenth over.

Szwarczynski and Tom Cooper (29) were then run out within three overs to further arrest the Dutch progress. Szwarczynski found himself stranded at the non-striker’s end while Cooper ended up having a terrible mix up with Doeschate.

Left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo dismissed Alexei Kervezee (18) to reduce the Dutch to 113/5 in 33.3 overs.

The Dutch had barely recovered from the loss when Razzak struck twice within two balls of the 38th over to send Tom de Grooth (4) and Atse Buurman (0) back to the shed.

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England Match >>

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The last time Bangladesh had played a World Cup match, their fans stoned the team coach and attacked the home of captain Shakib al-Hasan. Last night they might have carried him on their shoulders on a pathway adorned with gold.

Bangladesh beat England in a scintillating match by two wickets with five balls to spare. All had looked up for them and their World Cup seemed over when they were 169 for 8, chasing 225 to win.

“At 169-8 I thought we’d lost the game but [Mohammad] Mahmudullah and Shafiul [Islam] showed how tough they are and they batted exceptionally well and it paid off,” said Shakib, who was a the target of his countrymen’s ire after his side’s defeat to the West Indies when they were bowled out for 58.

“When they hit the last ball then I believed it but before then I never believed they could win us the game.

“It means a hell of a lot to the whole country as we are all very emotional about cricket.”

Bangladesh won after Shafiul, who made 24 from 24 balls, and Mahmudullah shared a ninth-wicket partnership of 58 in 57 balls.

Tamim Iqbal, the vice-captain and opener who gave Bangladesh a blazing start to their chase with 38 from 26 balls, said: “You never know with cricket. It’s unbelievable. We knew that he [Shafiul] could bat but not like that.”

Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was as magnanimous as ever in defeat but expressed surprise that the first day-night match at Chittagong, which this was, should be in the World Cup. “There was a 20-over period where it was very, very bad,” said Strauss. “Graeme Swann couldn’t grip the ball at all. I think there’s something not quite right if a spinner can’t grip the ball in this part of the world where spin plays such an important role.”

The dew affected England’s ability to grip the ball but it was Bangladesh who kept their nerve at the climax.

Group A Details

Results

New Zealand bt Kenya by 10 wkts

Sri Lanka bt Canada by 210 runs

Australia bt Zimbabwe by 91 runs

Pakistan bt Kenya by 205 runs

Australia bt New Zealand by seven wkts

Pakistan bt Sri Lanka by 11 runs

Zimbabwe bt Canada by 175 runs

Sri Lanka bt Kenya by nine wkts

Pakistan bt Canada by 46 runs

New Zealand bt Zimbabwe by 10 wkts

Australia v Sri Lanka: no result

Canada bt Kenya by five wkts

New Zealand bt Pakistan by 110 runs

Sri Lanka bt Zimbabwe by 139 runs

Remaining fixtures (GMT)

New Zealand v Canada: Tomorrow Mumbai 4am

Australia v Kenya: Tomorrow Bangalore 9am

Pakistan v Zimbabwe: Mon Kandy 9am

Australia v Canada: Wed Bangalore 9am

New Zealand v Sri Lanka: 18 Mar Mumbai 9am

Australia v Pakistan: 19 Mar Colombo 9am

Zimbabwe v Kenya: 20 Mar Kolkata 4am

Quarter Finals

QF1: A1 v B4 23Mar Dhaka 8.30am

QF2: A2 v B3 24Mar Ahmedabad 9am

QF3: A3 v B2 25Mar Dhaka 8.30am

QF4: A4 v B1 26Mar Colombo 9am

Group B Details

India bt Bangladesh by 87 runs

England bt Netherlands by six wkts

South Africa bt West Indies by seven wkts

Bangladesh bt Ireland by 27 runs

India tied with England

West Indies bt Netherlands by 215 runs

Ireland bt England by three wkts

South Africa bt Netherlands by 231 runs

West Indies bt Bangladesh by nine wkts

England bt South Africa by six runs

India bt Ireland by five wkts

India bt Netherlands by five wkts

West Indies bt Ireland by 44 runs

Bangladesh bt England by two wkts

Remaining Fixtures

India v South Africa: Today Nagpur 9am

Bangladesh v Netherlands: Mon Chittagong 3.30am

Ireland v South Africa: Tues Kolkata 9am

England v West Indies: Thurs Chennai 9am

Netherlands v Ireland: 18 Mar Kolkata 4am

Bangladesh v South Africa: 19 Mar Dhaka 3.30am

India v West Indies: 20 Mar Chennai 9am

Semi-finals (BST)

Winner QF1 v Winner QF3 – 29 Mar Colombo 10am

Winner QF2 v Winner QF4 – 30 Mar Mohali 10am

Final

2 April Mumbai 10am