C T Online Desk: Bangladesh ended their 15 years long wait to win a main event match of the ICC T20 World Cup when they defeated Netherlands by nine runs in their opening match of the ongoing tournament at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday.
Despite not being able to put up a decent total on board after they were asked to bat first by Netherlands, Bangladesh bowlers and fielders showcased a brilliant performance and bowled the opposition all out for 135 runs in the last ball to end their 23-match losing streak in the main event.
Pacer Taskin Ahmed was the star of the show as he finished with career-best 4-25 while another pacer Hasan Mahmud claimed 2-15 while two of the Dutch batters were dismissed by two brilliant throws by Bangladeshi fielders.
The last time Bangladesh won a main event match was back in 2007 when they defeated West Indies in their maiden T20 World Cup match.
Earlier, Afif Hossain (38 off 27) and Mosaddek Hossain (20 off 12 not out) came as saviours for Bangladesh during their batting as their innings helped the Tigers post 144-8 in their 20 overs.
Taskin nearly staged a Chaminda Vaas feat (hat-trick in the first three balls of an innings) in the game after he picked up two wickets in first two balls in Netherlands innings.
The right-arm pacer removed Vikramjit Singh (0) and Bas de Leede (0) in successive deliveries before his next ball was played for three runs by Colin Ackermann, who later made the highest 62 off 48 balls in the match.
Next two wickets were taken by brilliant fielding efforts by Afif Hossain and Najmul Hossain from the boundary line that reduced Netherlands to 15-4 in the fourth over.
Ackermann then played a lone battle but wickets continued to fall from the other hand.
Netherlands’ number 11 Paul van Meekeren smashed 24 off 14 balls to take the game to the wire but it hardly could deny Bangladesh to claim victory in their opening Group 2 Super 12 match.
Bangladesh earlier got off to a decent start as their openers Najmul (25) and Soumya Sarkar (14) put up a 43-run opening stand in five overs before both the batters departed in space of six balls.
Liton Das (nine) and Shakib Al Hasan (seven) failed to contribute much to their total while Yasir Ali also was also dismissed cheaply as Bangladesh were left struggling at 76-5.
Afif then put up a 46-run stand with Nurul Hasan Sohan (13) that helped Bangladesh cross the 120-run mark before Mosaddek played some exciting shots in the last overs to give Bangladeshi bowlers something to fight with.
Bangladesh will play their next match against South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.
