ICC 2021 T20 World Cup Qualifier: Shakib al Hasan stars in Bangladesh’s win against Oman
Bangladesh overcame the Oman challenge as they defeated the home nation by 26 runs powered by a great all-round performance from star player Shakib al Hasan to stay alive in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
After winning the toss, the Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah chose to bat first citing dew as a big factor behind the decision. Mahmudullah named a single change in the Bangla Tigers playing XI as Mohammad Naim replaced the out of form Soumya Sarkar as the opening batsman alongside Liton Das. Oman skipper Zeeshan Maqsood also welcomed debutant Fayyazz Butt into the playing XI in place of Khawar Ali.
Bangladesh got off to a bad start as the pair of Liton Das and promoted batsman Mahedi Hasan were both sent back to the pavilion leaving the Tigers reeling at 29/2 at the end of the powerplay overs.
Oman’s bad fielding came back to bite them as they dropped Naim twice and the southpaw went on to score 64 runs off 50 balls smashing 3 boundaries and 4 maximums before getting out to Kaleemullah. Shakib played a useful innings scoring 42 runs off 29 balls smashing six boundaries and playing with minimal risk throughout the innings.
After the 80-run partnership between Naim and Shakib was broken courtesy of a magnificent run-out, Oman went through the Bangladesh middle-order like a storm ruining a pack of cards. Skipper Mahmudullah’s innings of 17 runs off 10 balls helped his side post a respectable total of 153 runs.
Debutant Butt and Bilal Khan picked 3 wickets each whilst Kaleemullah picked 2 wickets in his full quota of 4 overs.
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Oman got off to a great start as their opening batsman collected 12 runs from the first over but Mustafizur Rahman spoiled the party as he trapped Aqib Ilyas leg before wicket in the second over.
Courtesy of multiple dropped catches and a missed run-out opportunity, Oman put 47 runs on board at the end of 6 overs but lost the wicket of Kashyap Prajapati as he was dismissed by Mustafizur in the last over of the powerplay.
With skipper Maqsood and star batsman Jatinder Singh hitting the ball to the fence regularly, Oman was looking in a good position at 80/2 after 11 overs. Mahedi Hasan dismissed the Oman skipper in the 12th over followed by Shakib dismissing Singh in the 13th over hence exposing Oman’s lower middle order and forcing them to make the rest of the required runs within 7 overs.
Clinical death bowling from the Bangladesh bowlers ensured that Oman fell well short of the target and the Bangla Tigers won by 26 runs setting them up for an interesting final qualifying fixture against Papua New Guinea with Oman facing Group B leaders Scotland.
Shakib al Hasan was awarded the Man of the Match award and the star all-rounder discussed how important the win was after the shock loss against Scotland in the first qualifying match.
He said,
“It (The Scotland loss) hurt the whole team. We were not expecting it. But should give credit to Scotland. They (Oman) were very confident before the game. It was pretty tough. Oman played good cricket. They were in the game for the most part. But we held our nerves. Credit to go to Oman the way they’re playing. They’re playing with a lot of heart. This win will settle our nerves. We have another game that we have to win. Fingers crossed. Have to win against PNG and then see what happens.”