Hobart: Bangladesh got off to a splendid start to their ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign by pulling off a hard-earned 9 runs win over the Netherlands here on Monday.
Taskin Ahmed (4/25) set the tone when he removed Vikramjit Singh and Max O'Dowd with the first two balls of Netherlands' run chase on his way to career best figures and he was well supported by Hasan Mahmud (2/15).
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan (1/32) was relatively expensive during his four overs and a pair of run outs in the field made it a good day for Bangladesh as they got their tournament started with a victory.
Shakib and Litton Das are among Bangladesh's most experienced batsmen, but the pair combined for just 16 runs between them as the Netherlands produced a disciplined bowling effort.
It was left to Afif Hossain to step up and the young left-hander produced the goods with a quickfire 38 from just 27 deliveries to ensure his team was able to post a decent total.
It's a good sign for Bangladesh that they can still prevail with smaller contributions from Shakib and Das and they will be looking to build on this performance when they take on South Africa in Sydney on Thursday.
Confidence was sky high for the Netherlands heading into the contest after a pair of good results during the First Round, but much of that good work was undone against Bangladesh.
Seamers Paul van Meekeren (2/21) and Bas de Leede (2/19) bowled well to pick up two wickets apiece, while teenager Shariz Ahmad (1/27) got the big wicket of Shakib in his first appearance at the tournament.
The only batsman who looked assured at the crease was Colin Ackermann, with the right-hander finding the middle of the bat on his way to a career best score of 62 from 48 balls.
It was an eye-catching knock and he will be keen to go big once again when the Netherlands face India at the SCG on Thursday. (UNI)