Bangladesh have suffered a humiliating 87-run loss against Netherlands in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India on Saturday.
Chasing a modest target of 230, Bangladesh never looked in the contest as an impressive all-round bowling performance from the Dutch side kept them in shackles throughout.
Paul van Meekeren (4/23) and Bas de Leede (2/25) were the pick of the bowlers while Bangladesh bowlers failed to apply themselves. Openers Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan never attempted to take advantage of the powerplay overs, despite the pitch having no such demons.
Das was the first to depart in the fifth over with the scoreboard only registering 19 runs. Hasan followed his partner in the next over as Logan van Beek got him to nick one back to captain-wicketkeeper Scott Edwards behind the sticks.
With two wickets down, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto attempted to steer the ship but Van Meekeren used his pace and outfoxed the Bangladesh batter. The 11-20 overs phase was when Bangla Tigers lost four wickets while only mustering 33 runs.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan and veteran Mushfiqur Rahim could not perform their rescue job, as they have done many times in the past decade for the team.
The deck was slow and allowed spinners to get into the contest and yet the Bangladesh bowlers were unable to get any major purchase. It didn't help their cause that fielders did not bring their A-game and allowed the Dutch to chart a comeback win.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
