Experienced Shakib (46,4/9), Mahmudullah (50) lead Bangladesh to Super 12
Bangladesh 181 for 7 (Mahmudullah 50, Shakib 46, Korea 26/2, Vala 26/2) beat PNG 97 all-out (Dorgia 46*, Shakib 9/4) by 84 runs.
The ninth match of the first round under Group B was played between Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea, at Al Amerat Cricket Ground at Muscat.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah won the toss and opted to bat first.
Bangladesh lose early wickets
Bangladesh opener Mohammad Naim got out on the second ball of the innings as he flicked a delivery on the leg side straight in the hands of deep square leg, Sese Bau.
His partner Liton Das and one down batter Shakib Al Hasan played some shots to collect 16 runs in the fourth over of the innings bowled by Damien Ravu. Das got out on 29 when he got caught at deep mid-wicket by Sese Bau.
Shakib and Mahmudullah take Bangladesh above 180
Next better Mushfiqur Rahim also got out on 5 on the delivery bowled by Simon Atai. On the other end, Shakib played sensibly to score 46 runs off 37 balls, with the help of three elephantine sixes. Assad Vala bagged his wicket as Shakib went for a lofted stroke on long-on which was caught by Charles Amini.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah smoked two towering sixes and one four in the 17th over bowled by Chad Soper to collect 19 runs. He completed his fifty in just 27 deliveries, however, he got caught by Soper at deep backward square leg.
Lower-order batter Afif Hossain smashed three boundaries to score 21 runs off 14 deliveries in the last overs whereas Mohammad Saifuddin smashed two sixes and one four in the final over of the innings to take Bangladesh to a huge score of 181 runs in 20 overs after losing seven wickets.
This is the highest total made by any team in T20 World Cup 2021.
Read More: ICC T20 WC 2021 – Round 1, Group B, Ban vs Oman –Shakib, Mustafizur save Bangladesh from elimination
PNG collapse in the face of a huge target
In front of the huge target of 182 runs, PNG lost wickets in early overs. Right-arm pacer Saifuddin got Lega Siaka leg before on just 5 whereas speedster Taskin Ahmed bagged the wicket of PNG skipper Assad Vala, as the batter edged the ball behind the wicket which was safely caught by wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.
Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan sent two more batters in the dugout in his first over to push PNG to the brink of disaster. In powerplay overs, PNG could score only 17 runs by losing four wickets.
Wickets continued to fall in the next overs of Shakib and Mahedi Hasan. Sese Bau also got out to Shakib on 7 as Naim caught him at long-on. Norman Vanua, who scored a quickfire knock of 47 runs in the previous game, was dismissed early in this game for a duck by Mahedi Hasan.
Hiri Hiri got out on eight while playing an attacking shot which went straight in the air by taking the leading edge of the bat. Wicketkeeper batter Kiplin Doriga played some attractive shots. He remained unbeaten on 46 as PNG got all-out for just 97 runs in the final over of the innings. Bangladesh won this game by a huge margin of 84 runs.
Shakib scalped four wickets in his quota of four overs conceding just nine runs.
What Lies Ahead
Bangladesh qualified for the Super 12 round with a total of four points to their name while debutants PNG were eliminated from the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 as they lost all their games in the first round.
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