Pacers get it done

Shakib Al Hasan’s magical run out stole the show, and Mosaddek Hossain’s final over handed Bangladesh the win, but it was once again their pacers that got it done.

In their first win of the tournament, Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud were at the forefront as they downed Netherlands. Against Zimbabwe, it was Taskin once again, but this time it was Mustafizur Rahman as his partner-in-crime.

Taskin ended with figures of 3-19, which included 15 dot balls, winning the player of the match award. Mustafiz, in his four overs, gave away just 15 runs and picked up two wickets, including the absolute golden one of Sikandar Raza.

Hasan Mahmud was not bad either, but he conceded two fours in the last two balls of his spell to end up conceding 36 in his four.

“Focusing on my process, and this was the result of that. The pitches back home are slow, here we are getting early movement and help. So, everything is going well. We have a good fast-bowling bunch and are working on improving. Allan Donald and other support staff are helping us. Hopefully, we’ll improve further,” Taskin said upon receiving his player of the match award.

Bangladesh had a total of 150 to defend, and Taskin gave them the perfect start as he dismissed Wessly Madhevere in the first over, with Mustafiz taking the catch at deep third man. In his next over, he got rid of Zimbabwean skipper Craig Ervine.

Mustafiz came into bowl in the final over of the powerplay and instantly got rid of Milton Shumba as Shakib took a great catch at mid-off.

Two balls later, a short delivery from the Fizz cramped Raza, who could only manage to give an easy catch to Afif Hossain.

Regis Chakabva and Sean Williams put together a 34-run stand to steady Zimbabwe’s initial rocking ship, but Taskin returned and got rid of Chakabva to nullify their initial comeback.

But what Taskin and Mustafiz did the best was at the back end of the innings. With Zimbabwe requiring 56 off the last five overs, Taskin bowled the 16th and gave away 10.

And then, Mustafiz gave away only six, leaving the African side needing 40 off the last three overs, which they failed to take.

Expectedly, Najmul Hossain Shanto was all praise of the pacers after the match.

“We were 15-20 runs short. But we had the belief in our bowlers that they can defend it. Our bowlers bowled really well. They can defend any total. Everyone in our bowling department, Mustafizur, Taskin, and Hasan, bowled well. The good thing is that everyone supports each other, so the improvement is now getting better,” he said.