Bangladesh beat Nepal to seal final Super 8 spot

Nepal restricted the Tigers to 106, but Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman led a fiery bowling attack to victory

Bangladesh beat Nepal by 21 runs on Sunday in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines, to seal the final spot in the Super 8 phase of the T20 World Cup.

The win put Bangladesh in Group 1 of the Super 8s with India, Australia and Afghanistan.

Nepal restricted Bangladesh to 106 after winning the toss and fielding first but were bowled out for 85 with four balls to spare.

The Tigers struggled out of the gate. Opener Tanzid Hasan raced down the track to try and smash pacer Sompal Kami’s first ball of the match over midwicket, only to slice it tamely into the bowler’s hands.

The rest of the batting order did not fare much better as Nepal’s bowling attack of Kami (2-10), Dipendra Singh Airee (2-22), Rohit Paudel (2-20) and Sandeep Lamichhane (2-17) piled on the pressure.

Shakib Al Hasan was Bangladesh’s highest scorer, putting up 17 runs off 22 deliveries.

But the Tigers came roaring back when they took to the field. Tanzim Hasan Sakib led the line, tearing through the top order of Kashal Bhurtel, Anil Sah, Paudel, and Sundeep Jora before Nepal could find their feet. He ended the night with figures of 4-7 and was named player of the match.

Aasif Sheikh (17), Kushal Malla (27) and Airee (25) put up valiant efforts but were dispatched by some keen bowling from pacer Mustafizur Rahman (3-7).

Shakib Al Hasan (2-9), with support from wicket-keeper Litton Das, picked off the tail end to take the Tigers to a thrilling 21-run win.

Shanto praised the performance of his bowlers in another low-scoring match in the tournament.

"We are not scoring much but we know we can defend low totals if we can pick up early wickets," he said.

Former champions Sri Lanka, who finished third in the group and did not progress, concluded their campaign with an 83-run victory against the Netherlands in St Lucia.

Sri Lanka amassed 201 for six with Kusal Mendis (46), Charith Asalanka (46) and Angelo Matthews (30 not out) leading the charge and the target was always beyond the reach of the Dutch team, who were bowled out for 118 from 16.4 overs.

"After bad first two games this win is very healthy for us,” said Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga. "The wicket was really good, we just wanted to put a 160-170 scores on this wicket."