Shakib, Mahmudullah help Tigers to their biggest-ever T20I win
Bangladesh had to win by a margin of three runs to make it to the main round but an all-round performance from the Tigers ensured that they won by a much bigger margin which gave them a genuine chance of being the group champions.
Bangladesh crushed Papua New Guinea in their third game in the ongoing T20 World Cup and qualified for the Super 12s as the first team from Group B. They won by a huge margin of 84 runs. It was Bangladesh's biggest victory in T20Is in terms of runs.
Bangladesh had to win by a margin of three runs to make it to the main round but an all-round performance from the Tigers ensured that they won by a much bigger margin which gave them a genuine chance of being the group champions.
Shakib Al Hasan's terrific performance with both bat and ball earned him another player-of-the-match award.
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Although Bangladesh lost Mohammad Naim early, they put on a much improved performance in the powerplay. Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das collected 45 runs in the first six overs.
Liton got off to a fine start but was undone by Assad Vala, the Papua New Guinea skipper in the 8th over. Liton made 29 off 23 balls. Bangladesh were 50 for two then.
Papua New Guinea slowed things down after Liton's dismissal and that led to Mushfiqur Rahim's departure in the 11th over.
Skipper Mahmudullah came out with a positive intent and he looked for boundaries right from the start. Shakib and he were going quite well before the latter lost his wicket in an attempt to accelerate. Shakib once again contributed massively with the bat with a solid 46 off 37 balls. Shakib's innings was studded with three maximums.
Afif Hossain, who came in at six, played second fiddle to Mahmudullah in the important 43-run stand for the fifth wicket. Mahmudullah was in the groove and struck the ball really sweetly. The right-hander placed and timed the ball well and brought up his sixth T20I fifty in quick time. Mahmudullah got out in the 18th over scoring 50 off just 28 balls. He set a great platform for the batters to come.
After his dismissal, Bangladesh added 37 off the remaining 16 balls, 20 of them coming from the final over thanks to two sixes and a four from Mohammad Saifuddin. He was unbeaten on 19 off six balls. Afif played a good hand of 21 off 14.
Bangladesh posted 181 for seven, the highest in the tournament so far. The last five overs yielded 68 runs. 181 was also Bangladesh's highest total in T20 World Cups.
Bangladesh put pressure on the Papua New Guinea batters from the beginning and got rid of their four batters including Vala and Charles Amini inside five overs. Mahmudullah unsettled the opponents by changing bowlers and the move worked. Saifuddin started things off by dismissing Lega Siaka in the third over.
Papua New Guinea lost three more batters in the next two overs with Taskin picking up one and Shakib two. Bangladesh's fielding was extraordinary as well. Nurul Hasan took a one-handed screamer behind the stumps and Mohammad Naim took a diving catch at the boundary. Papua New Guinea were 17 for four after six overs.
Mahmudullah had spinners operate from both ends during the middle overs and Papua New Guinea batters had no answer to Bangladesh's spin threat. They were restricted to 29 for seven in the 11th over. Shakib returned four for nine in four overs and became the joint highest wicket taker in the history of T20 World Cups.
Papua New Guinea could never recover from there and it never looked like they would go anywhere close to the target. They were bundled out for 97. Kiplin Doriga top-scored for them with unbeaten 46.
