Tigers fail to capitalise on solid start

Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto got out in successive overs but the Bangladesh openers had laid a solid foundation with a 43-run stand against the Netherlands in the Tigers' T20 World Cup opener at Hobart's Bellerive Oval today.

However, the Tigers has found themselves in a spot of bother following the departure of Liton Das and skipper Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession. Bangladesh are 77 for five inside 12 overs as Yasir Ali was the latest to be dismissed.

Bangladesh began their innings on a positive note, with Najmul Hossain Shanto getting off the mark with a single in the first delivery and Soumya Sarkar striking two boundaries in the first over off Fred Klaassen.  

Colin Ackermann and Paul van Meerken operated in the next overs and bowled with accuracy as the Dutch pacers extracted movement and bounce from the surface and conditions at Hobart's Bellerive Oval.

Netherlands skipper Tom Cooper stuck to a one-over spell as Bas de Leede, their best bowler in Round 1 with seven scalps, was introduced in the fourth over. However, Shanto greeted Leede with two sweetly timed shots, the first one heaved over mid wicket before punching one on the backfoot as the ball raced towards the fence at long on.

Klaassen was reintroduced in the fifth over and Shanto was into the act again, striking consecutive boundaries. Soumya, however, got out in the first ball of the sixth over after a run-a-ball 14 as his mistimed pull shot off Meerken found the fielder inside the circle before Shanto was caught in the deep after a well-made 20-ball 25, trying to dispatch a Pringle delivery, right after Powerplay.  

Following a 43-run opening stand, Bangladesh aimed to increase the tempo further but the dismissal of their two key batters- Liton and Shakib -- gave the Dutch the upper hand. Liton (9) mistimed a cross-batted shot while Shakib (7) was brilliant caught in the deep by Leede.