Bangladesh have cemented their place as Australia‘s first rival in the Super Eights after defeating Nepal by 21 runs.
Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman took seven wickets between them on Monday (AEST) to claim the last Super Eight place at the Twenty20 cricket World Cup.
Bangladesh will face India, Afghanistan and Australia in one Super Eight group while the United States, England, the West Indies and South Africa make up the other.
READ MORE: Demon trolled by girlfriend after title win, rankings high
READ MORE: ‘Downside’ to Latrell recall after ‘moment of madness’
READ MORE: Aussie’s classic interview after world title victory
In a thrilling, low-scoring match, Bangladesh’s qualifying hopes looked to be in the balance when it was bowled out for 106 in 19.2 overs after losing the toss.
But Tanzim (4-7) bowled his four overs consecutively, leaving Nepal’s innings in disarray at 26-5 after the seventh over.
Nepal couldn’t recover and eventually was bowled out for 85 in the last over on a treacherous pitch at Kingstown, St Vincent.
“We just wanted to keep things very simple and bowl in good areas,” Tanzim said.
“We didn’t panic, we knew could defend this score and we were very confident about that.”
The pitch at the Arnos Vale Stadium provided sharp turn and bounce for the Nepal spinners who shared six wickets in the Bangladesh innings.
Leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichanne took 2-17 to reach 100 wickets in T20 internationals.
Conditions also assisted the seamers with swing and often spiteful bounce. Sompal Kami took 2-10 from his three overs for Nepal, including a wicket for the first ball of the match.
But the tough conditions cut both ways, while Nepal took advantage of them to dismiss Bangladesh cheaply, Bangladesh did the same and to greater effect.
The match provided a catalogue of thrills from the moment Sompal dismissed Tanzid Hasan with the very first ball.
https://twitter.com/BCBtigers/status/1802547915476578759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
For no apparent reason Tanzid decided to charge the bowler who fired the ball hard into the pitch. Tanzid’s shot came too late and he only managed to spar the ball back to the bowler.
Nepal let its control slip at the end of the Bangladesh innings when Mustafizur and Taskin Ahmed put on 18 for the 10th wicket including 11 from the 19th over.
He bowled Bhurtel with his second ball of the match and dismissed Anil Sah two balls later. Tanzim clashed with Paudel at one point, causing the umpires to caution the Bangladesh captain.
But Tanzim had the final say and dismissed Paudel to leave Nepal 20-3 in the fifth over.
Aasif Sheikh fell to Mustafizur in the sixth over, after which Nepal was 24-4.
Nepal was 42-5 after 10 overs and its hopes of ending the tournament with a win were revived by a 50 partnership for the sixth wicket between Kushal Malla (27) and Airee (25).
Veteran Mustafizur (3-7) conceded only one run and dismissed Malla in the 17th over, then bowled a wicket maiden, removing Airee (25) in the 19th over to help seal the match.
Nepal needed 22 from the last over and lost its last two wickets to the first two balls.
“I think as a bowling unit we bowled really well but as a batting unit I think we could have done better, especially the top-order batsmen,” Paudel said.
“Bangladesh bowled really well with the new ball.”
Earlier, Pakistan needed allrounder Shaheen Shah Afridi to show off his bowling and batting skills in a three-wicket consolation win over Ireland.
Afridi destroyed Ireland’s top-order batters with 3-22 and then smashed a couple of sixes in his unbeaten 13 off five balls as he guided Pakistan to a scrappy 111-7 in 18.5 overs to win its last Group A game.
Captain Babar Azam was 32 not out and helplessly watched another batting collapse before Afridi’s little cameo came to Pakistan’s rescue.
“We lost back-to-back wickets, but managed to get over the line in the end,” Azam said after the match.
“We’ve got to go home, chat and see where we lacked and then come back. We couldn’t finish off close games… we weren’t good as a team.”
Ireland finished last in its group with three defeats and its solitary point coming against the US in a rain-abandoned game at the same venue.
Pakistan finished third with four points behind qualifiers India and the United States.
Australia will play Bangladesh in the Super Eight stage, which starts on Friday (AEST).