MUSCAT: Round 1 match: Bangladesh in a must win situation overcame a resilient Oman to win by 26 runs.
Bangladesh winning the toss chose to bat first and set a target of 153 off their 20 overs. Mohamed Naim batted valiantly for 64 runs off 50 balls and was ably supported by a quick cameo by Shakib Al Hasan (42 runs off 29 balls). Captain Mahamudullah scored 17 runs off 10 balls. Oman bowled well to get all ten Bangladesh wickets with Oman’s Bilal Khan and Fayyaz Butt both getting 3 wickets each.
Oman chasing the competitive score had opener Jatinder singh scoring 40 runs and supported by Kashyam Kumar with 21 runs.
However, the Bangladeshi spinners led by Shakib Al Hasan (3 wickets for 28 runs) spun a web around the Oman batsman and had them staggering at 108 for 7 wickets in the 17th over needing 46 runs to win in the last 3 overs. Oman could only manage to score 127 for 9 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman bowled a wonderful spell for 4 wickets giving away 36 runs. Bangladesh won by 26 runs. Shakib Al Hasan was adjudicated as the player of the match for his all round performance.
Bangladesh got the much needed 2 points. Bangladesh meet Papua New Guinea on Thursday, 21 October and will strive for a win to ease the entry to the super 12s. Group B after 2 matches each played by all 4 teams is currently led by Scotland followed by Oman at 2nd position and Bangladesh at 3rd position. (RZ)
[Image credit icc-cricket.com]
