In the 27th match of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Bangladesh will be up against the Netherlands at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent.
While South Africa is expectedly the favorite to be one of the two teams to qualify for the Super 8 from Group D, there is now a wide-open battle for the second slot, considering how the rest of the teams in that group are placed.
Bangladesh is currently holding on the second place, having won one and lost one of their first two matches. On the other hand, the Netherlands have also got the exact same start to their campaign, currently placed third just on the basis of Net Run Rate.
Bangladesh would want to win both of their remaining group matches while the Netherlands would also be desperate to get a second win under their belt.
What has happened so far?
Although they came into this tournament on the back of a disastrous series defeat against the United States of America, Bangladesh had a good start to their campaign, where they beat Sri Lanka by 2 wickets.
Bowling first, Najmul Hossain Shanto’s team restricted the Lankans to a score of 124/9, thanks to three-wicket hauls from Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain. With the bat, Litton Das’ 36 and Towhid Hridoy’s 40 helped the Tigers chase the total down.
But unfortunately for them, they could not bank on the momentum to get a second win, losing their last match against South Africa by 4 runs. Despite having only 114 runs to chase, Bangladesh scored just 109/7, as no batter except Hridoy and Mahmudullah could procure runs.
The Netherlands started their campaign with a thoroughly professional display against Nepal, winning by 6 wickets. Bowling first, they got Nepal all out for just 106, as Tim Pringle and Logan van Beek picked up three-wicket hauls. The men in orange then chased the total down in 18.4 overs.
In their last match against South Africa, the Dutch batters unfortunately could not cope with the two-paced New York pitch, as they scored just 103 runs. With that being said, the likes of van Beek and Vivian Kingma bowled brilliantly to take the game deep, but the Proteas chased the total down with 7 balls to spare, getting a four-wicket win.
Head to Head Record
Bangladesh and Netherlands have crossed swords four times in T20I cricket, where the Tigers have won three matches while the Dutch have won only one game.
The last meeting took place at the Bellerive Oval in 2016, where Bangladesh got a 9-run win in a closely contested thriller. Batting first, Afif Hossain Dhrubo’s 38 helped Bangladesh score 144 runs, while Taskin Ahmed’s four-wicket haul got Netherlands all out for 135 runs.
Key Players
Towhid Hridoy has been Bangladesh’s best batter so far in this tournament
Towhid Hridoy (Bangladesh): In a scenario where most of Bangladesh’s renowned batters are consistently failing to deliver, including captain Shanto and former captain Shakib, young Hridoy is one of the few batters the team is heavily relying on to score the bulk of the runs.
The 23-year-old is currently Bangladesh’s top-scorer in this tournament, with 77 runs at an average of nearly 40 and a strike rate of over 140. He scored a match-winning 20-ball 40 against Sri Lanka and a fighting 37 against South Africa, which ended up being in a losing cause.
Logan van Beek (Netherlands): Like Bangladesh, the Netherlands are also dependent more on their bowling than their batting, and van Beek has been the shining star for them. The team’s highest wicket-taker so far, van Beek has five wickets to his name at an average of under 8 and an economy rate of just over 5 runs per over.
The New Zealand-born seamer was excellent against Nepal, picking up three wickets by conceding just 18 runs. Then against South Africa, he got the wickets of Reeza Hendricks and Marco Jansen, while also scoring 23 runs.
Predicted XIs
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto ©, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaker Ali, Mahmudullah, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards © (wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
Prediction
It would be foolish on Bangladesh’s part to take the Netherlands lightly, especially after what they did at the 2023 ODI World Cup and how they have performed so far in this tournament. But even then, the Tigers will have the edge, considering their decent start and the presence of vastly experienced players like Shakib and Mahmudullah.