Tigers move to Super 10s
Bangladesh beat Oman by 54 runs as Tamim hits maiden T20 ton
Sports Reporter
A swashbuckling opener Tamim Iqbal smashed an unbeaten 63-ball 103 as Bangladesh dumped Oman by 54 runs on Duckworth/Lewis method to get visas for Super 10s of ICC World T20. Tamim continued his rich form to earn the distinction of scoring the maiden ton for Bangladesh in T20 cricket. An inserted Bangladesh hammered 180 for 2 in their ICC WorldT20 qualifier at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharmsala yesterday.
Oman managed to score 65 for nine in 12 overs while chasing a revised target of 120 off 12 overs. Rain halted the match for the first time after Oman scoring 41 for two in seven overs. The match stopped for the second time just after seven balls with Oman conceding two more wickets adding four runs.
Bangladesh, who have been clubbed with India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand, will open their campaign against Pakistan in a day-night affairs at Eden Garden in Kolkata on March 16.
Shakib Al Hasan after a long time showed his class with the leather claiming four for 15 in three overs. Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin, Mashrafe and Sabbir bagged one wicket each.
Earlier, Tamim not only scored the first ever century for Bangladesh the shortest format but also became the first Bangladesh batsman to complete 1000 runs in T20 cricket when he was on 11. Tamim, who has been in blazing form with scores of 83 and 47 in the previous two games, got to his ton off a boundary against Oman pace spearhead Bilal Khan.
The southpaw batsman from Chittagong cracked ten boundaries and as many as five overs boundaries to accomplish the feat. In fact Tamim bettered his own record of scoring the previous highest 88 not out for Bangladesh in T20 cricket.
Tamim added an unbroken 41 with Shakib Al Haan in the third wicket in only 24 balls to widen the Bangladesh total to nine runs per over. Shakib, who remained not out with 17, just missed for four runs to reach a milestone to score 1000 runs and claiming 50 wickets in 50 matches.
Earlier Oman captain Sultan Ahmed won the toss and invited Bangladesh to bat on a damp wicket following rain almost washed out the days first match between the Netherlands and Ireland. The Dutch won the
rain shortened six-over match by 12 run on Duckworth/ Lewis Method. In fact Oman played their fist ever T20 match against an ICC full member team.
Bangladesh openers duo Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar took a little time to adjust them in the wickets. The pair added 42 in 6.5 overs before Soumya was bowled by Lalcheta for 12.
Another in-form Sabbir Rahman joined Tamim in the second wicket only to extend the agony of Oman as the pair hit all around the park to gather 97 runs off 55 balls in the second wicket. Sabbir hit a sparkling 44 off 26 balls with the help of five boundaries and one over the ropes.
Earlier in the day, Paul van Meekeren bagged four wickets to help Netherlands notch up a consolation 12-run win via D/L method in their final match of the World T20 at Himachal Sports Association Stadium yesterday, reports AFP from Dharmsala.
Invited to bat in the inconsequential group tie, the Dutch openers had to wait for more than two and a half hours to take to the field with the rain-affected game reduced to 6-overs-a-side.
Left-hander Stephen Myburgh struck an 18-ball 27 to help Netherlands post 59 for five and the bowlers did well to defend the total.
Medium-pacer Van Meekeren (4-11 from 2 overs) tore into the Irish batting getting good support from left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe, who picked up two scalps, to restrict Ireland to 47 for 7.
Its special, Im not sure if its happened yet. We had been preparing for this for the last three weeks, maybe six months, and it worked out well, said an out-of-breath Van Meekeren after the win.
Both Netherlands and Ireland were hard done by rain abandoned games in their respective second outings after losing their opening matches to Bangladesh and Oman.
SCOREBOARD
Bangladesh innings:
Tamim not out 103
Soumya b Lalcheta 12
Sabbir b Khawar 44
Shakib not out 17
Extras (lb 1, w 3) 4
Total (2 wickets; 20 overs) 180
Did not bat: Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur, M Mithun, Mashrafe, Abu Haider, Taskin, Al-Amin.
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-139.
BOWLING O M R W
Bilal Khan 4 0 16 0
Amir Ali 4 0 28 0
A Lalcheta 3 0 35 1
M Ansari 4 0 50 0
Mehran Khan 1 0 11 0
Khawar Ali 3 0 24 1
Aamir Kaleem 1 0 15 0
Oman innings:
Z Maqsood c Mahmudullah b Taskin 0
Khawar c Mashrafe b Al-Amin 8
Jatinder c Mithun b Mashrafe 25
A Ilyas run out 13
A Kaleem c Mushfiqur b Shakib 0
Amir Ali st Mushfiqur b Shakib 4
Mehran Khan c Sabbir b Shakib 3
Sultan c Mahmudullah b Shakib 1
A Lalcheta c Mithun b Sabbir 1
M Ansari not out 3
Bilal Khan not out 1
Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total (9 wickets; 12 overs) 65
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-14, 3-44,
4-45, 5-50, 6-56, 7-59, 8-59, 9-64.
BOWLING O M R W
Taskin 2 0 8 1
Al-Amin 2 0 10 1
Abu Haider 2 0 15 0
Shakib 3 0 15 4
Mashrafe 2 0 10 1
Sabbir 1 0 5 1
Man of the Match: Tamim Iqbal
