T20 WC: Tanzim Hasan Sakib's brilliance seals Bangladesh's place in Super 8s after 21-run win over Nepal

Kingstown [Saint Vincent and the Grenadines], June 17 : Tanzim Hasan Sakib's terrific four-wicket haul sealed Bangladesh's place in ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8s after the Tigers registered a 21-run win over Nepal at the Arnos Vale Ground on Sunday (local time).
Bangladesh became the final team to make the T20 World Cup Super Eights. Nepal was bowled out for 85 and this is the lowest total ever defended by a team in Men's T20 World Cups. With Bangladesh sealing a place in the Super 8s, the Netherlands has been knocked out of the tournament.
Tanzim at the start and Mustafizur Rahman at the end were brilliant. Mustafizur bagged three wickets while Tanzim returned with the figure of 4-7.
Nepal's run chase of 107 runs was anything but smooth sailing in the early stages. A double-wicket maiden in the third over caused a spicy exchange involving bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib, as the pressure gauge went up in St. Vincent.
Nepal stumbled to 24/4 through the Powerplay, leaving themselves a mountain of work to do at the six-over mark. Sundeep Jora was out next over, as Nepal fell to five-for and was in a world of trouble. But up stepped Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee, helping steady the ship and keep the run chase within the realms of achievability.
They scrapped their way to 42/5 at drinks and toiled towards a run-a-ball assignment, with a big 16th over placing the match firmly in the balance. Two boundaries by Kushal Malla took the partnership to up over 50 and with four overs to go, the required run rate was down to 7.5.
It came down to them needing 30 in 24. However, Mustafizur Rahman gave away just the 1 run in the 17th and got the wicket of Malla and in the 19th he then got Dipendra Singh Airee and bowled a maiden. Shakib Al Hasan then bowled the last two overs and picked two in two to seal the game.
Nepal bowlers unleashed their fury to floor Bangladesh batters for 106 in their Group D match.
Earlier, Sompal Kami with the new ball was the architect of Bangladesh's batting collapse on a pitch that had decent grass cover later it was the captain Rohit Paudel who bagged two important wickets, making use of the favourable bowling conditions on offer. Bangladesh posted 106 thanks to Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed's 18-run last-wicket partnership.
Opting to bowl first, Nepal's Kami made the most out of the pitch as he removed Tanzid Hasan for a golden duck in the very first over of the game. Building on that early breakthrough, Dipendra Singh in the second over gave Bangladesh another blow, removing Najmul Hossain Shanto for 4.
Litton Das's lean patch continued as his top edge went straight up behind the wicket, where the keeper Aasif Sheikh took a safe catch. Kami rewarded the skipper's decision to give him a third consecutive over. The Nepalese then picked up wickets in the fifth and sixth over to cap off a dominant Powerplay, having the Tigers 31/4 at the six-over mark.
Towhid Hridoy showed some positive intent but his stay was cut short by Paudel, compounding Bangladesh's struggles. Nepal kept chipping away wickets at regular intervals. The seasoned duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah then came together to help stabilise the innings. Mahmudullah's demise came just as they appeared to be rebuilding, thanks to a misunderstanding.
Bangladesh attempted an innings rehabilitation with the field more spread out and worked their way past 50. But the crucial dismissal of Mahmudullah (13 off 13) had Bangladesh on the ropes after a miscommunication caused a frustrating runout.
Bangladesh's hopes rested on the shoulders of Shakib Al Hasan to bail them out of trouble however the star all-rounder fell prey to Paudel after scoring 17 runs.
Sandeep Lamichhane bagged his 99th T20I wicket as he castled Tanzim Hasan Sakib for 3. The Nepalese spinners then took charge, chipping away at the wickets in the middle session. However, Nepal's decision to give Abinash Bohara the 19th over rather than a frontline bowler may come back to haunt them, as he conceded 11 runs, however a run out in the last over ended Bangladesh's innings for 106.
Thanks to the last-wicket stand of 18 runs between Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh were able to scrap their way to 106.
Brief score: Bangladesh ... (Shakib Al Hasan 17, Rishad Hossain 13; Sompal Kami 2-10) vs Nepal 85 (Kushal Malla 27, Dipendra Singh Airee 25; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 4-7).