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Tanzid scores half-century on T20I debut to lead Bangladesh to victory
Bangladesh’s bowlers set up a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the first T20 against Zimbabwe by dismissing the visitors for 124 in Chattogram. Rain interrupted the chase twice, but debutant Tanzid Hasan remained unbeaten, steering his team to victory in just 15.2 overs with 67 off 47 balls.
Tanzid got into Bangladesh’s T20I side on the back of a strong BPL season and struck two sixes and eight fours in his innings. He was only the second Bangladesh batter – after Junaid Siddique in 2007 – to score a half-century on T20I debut.
Zimbabwe’s 124 was their lowest total against Bangladesh – the previous low was 131 in 2015 – but it could have been lower after they slipped to 41 for 7. Taskin Ahmed and the returning Mohammad Saifuddin took three wickets each while Mahedi Hasan bowled economically for his two scalps.
Zimbabwe’s innings had got off to a bright start. 20-year-old Brian Benett struck Shoriful Islam for three consecutive boundaries in the third over after senior batter Craig Ervine had fallen in the previous one. Bennett’s first boundary was a cover drive, the second a ramp past third man, and the third a well-timed punch off the back foot through cover. But that bright start was short-lived.
Taskin Ahmed’s first over, full of 140 kph-plus deliveries, was an omen for Zimbabwe’s next half hour. Bennett and debutant Joylord Gumbie struggled to connect with most of his deliveries, but the next dismissal was a soft one against Mohammad Saifuddin. Gumbie swivelled awkwardly at a poor delivery down the leg-side and gave Taskin a simple catch at short fine-leg.
Bennett was run out first ball of the sixth over, and then Mahedi Hasan dismissed Zimbabwe’s captain Sikandar Raza for a golden duck. Raza’s attempt at a lap sweep resulted in him gloving a catch to slip. Three wickets had fallen off three balls, and then Taskin dismissed Sean Williams and Ryan Burl with the first two deliveries of the seventh over. When Saifuddin got Juke Jongwe out for 2, Zimbabwe had gone from 36 for 1 to 41 for 7 in 17 balls.
Clive Madande was Zimbabwe’s last recognised batter and he found support in Wellington Masakadza. They rotated strike regularly as Bangladesh eased the pressure for a little while. The pair added 75 runs, Zimbabwe’s highest partnership for the eighth wicket in T20Is. It nearly broke the all time record of 80. Madande struck six fours in his 39-ball 43, while Masakadza made his highest T20I score, hitting 34 off 38 balls.
Blessing Muzarabani gave Zimbabwe the perfect start to the defence of 124 when he got his second ball to scissor through Litton Das’ forward press. Litton’s white-ball misery continued with scores of 0, 36, 7, 0, 0 and now 1 in 2024.
In his next over though, Muzarabani first collided with wicketkeeper Gumbie when Tanzid had skied a catch. The ball was high above the batter himself but Muzarabani wandered close to the advancing Gumbie, before the wicketkeeper dropped the catch as they collided.
Later in the over, Bennett dropped a sitter at cover off Tanzid, who was on 4 at the time. In Muzarabani’s next over, Tanzid smashed two sixes and a four through midwicket to exacerbate the bowler’s disappointment.
It took Tanzid 14 balls to score his first boundary on T20I debut, but once he laid into Muzarabani in the sixth over, the left-hander looked more at ease. After the second rain break, Tanzid struck a couple of fours off Luke Jongwe, and another pair got him close to his fifty.
Bangladesh lost Najmul Hossain Shanto in the tenth over for 21, but Tanzid enjoyed some more luck. He got a third life when Gumbie dropped him for a second time on 56. Towhid Hridoy struck Ainsley Ndlovu, who had come on as a concussion sub for Masakadza, for 15 runs in his first over. Hridoy remained not out on 33 off 18 balls, as Tanzid struck the winning runs with 28 balls to spare in the chase.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 126 for 2 (Tanzid Hasan 67*, Towhid Hridoy 33*; Blessing Muzarbani 1-31, Luke Jongwe 1-14) beat Zimbabwe 124 in 20 overs (Clive Madande 43, Wellington Masakadza 34; Mahedi Hasan 2-16, Taskin Ahmed 3-14, Mohammad Saifuddin 3-15) by eight wickets wickets
(Cricinfo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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