Bangladesh beat Nepal to claim final Super Eight spot at T20 World Cup

Kingstown: Bangladesh grabbed the final spot in the Super Eight phase of the Twenty20 World Cup with a 21-run victory over Nepal on Sunday.

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and his team joined India, Australia and Afghanistan in Group 1 of the Super Eight following their victory in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Pace bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib was the standout performer for Bangladesh, taking four for seven as Nepal struggled to 85 all out off 19.2 overs in reply to Bangladesh’s 106 from 19.3 on yet another Caribbean pitch offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers.

Shanto praised the performance of his bowlers in another low-scoring match in the tournament.

“We are not scoring much but we know we can defend low totals if we can pick up early wickets,” he said.

Former champions Sri Lanka, who finished third in the group and did not progress, concluded their campaign with an 83-run victory against the Netherlands in St Lucia.

Sri Lanka amassed 201 for six with Kusal Mendis (46), Charith Asalanka (46) and Angelo Matthews (30 not out) leading the charge and the target was always beyond the reach of the Dutch team, who were bowled out for 118 from 16.4 overs.

“After bad first two games this win is very healthy for us” said Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga.

“The wicket was really good, we just wanted to put a 160-170 scores on this wicket.”

Sri Lanka win

An eliminated Sri Lankan team overwhelmed the Netherlands by 83 runs in the final Group D match at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia on Sunday.

Opener Kusal Mendis and middle-order batsman Charith Asalanka posted identical scores of 46 to set the pace for the 2014 champions in a total of 201 for six, the first 200-plus total ever posted at this ground in a T20 International.

With their hopes of Super Eight qualification rapidly disappearing as Bangladesh closed in on victory in a low-scoring encounter unfolding at the same time in St Vincent, the Dutch faded after a bright started in being dismissed for 118 off 16.4 overs in reply.

Captain Scott Edwards and opener Michael Levitt contributed joint-top scores of 31 but Sri Lanka’s varied and talented attack was too good for the Netherlands line-up, pacer Nuwan Thushara leading the way with three for 24.

Mendis’ effort came off 29 balls (five fours) while Asalanka, following in his wake, occupied eight balls fewer courtesy of one four and five sixes, most of them boosted by a strong crosswind at the venue on the northern tip of the island.

Logan van Beek, grandson of the late former West Indies and New Zealand wicketkeeper/batsman Simpson “Sammy” Guillen, was the leading wicket-taker with victims off successive balls in his third over although his four overs cost 45 runs.

An opening stand of 45 inside five overs set the Netherlands on course. However from the moment slingy seamer Nuwan Thushara removed Max O’Dowd the innings went into a steady decline.

They were already labouring at 69 for four after nine overs when the news filtered through of Bangladesh’s 21-run victory over the Nepalase to claim the final spot in the next round of the competition. From that point it was just a matter of Sri Lanka closing out the result against the deflated Dutch.