Bangladesh have registered a comprehensive victory against Papua New Guinea by 84 runs and have qualified for the T20 World Cup Super 12s after posting a target of 182.
The T20 World Cup campaign commenced in the worst possible manner for Mahmudullah and his men after they suffered a shock defeat from Scotland. However, they bounced back and won two back-to-back victories against Oman and PNG on Thursday.
After winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat first and lost Mohammad Naim.
However, Shakib al Hasan and Liton Das amassed a 50-run partnership which lifted the gameplay, but Liton was removed for 29 by Assad Vala.
Mushfiqur Rahim also exited early after playing a brief innings of 5 runs.
Meanwhile, Shakib continuing with Mahmudullah Riyad added 29 runs for the fourth wicket stand.
Vala scalped his second wicket by removing Shakib for 46 runs, the all-rounder faced 37 balls featured three sixes before being sent to the pavilion.
Then skipper Mahmudullah played a stormy innings of 50 off 28 hitting three 4’s and three sixes with Afif Hossain who scored 21 runs.
Afif Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin added valuable runs towards the death overs to get to 181 runs after 20 overs.
Mohammad Saifuddin played a cameo innings 19 off 6 deliveries with two sixes and a boundary at the end of the allotted 20 overs.
For PNG, it was a frustrating outing as they failed to put up a competitive display from the get-go. The Bangladesh bowlers dismantled the PNG batting lineup and left them 29-7 in the 11th over.
Shakib Al Hasan took four wickets and gave away only 9 runs from his four overs, equalling Shahid Afridi’s record of most wickets in T20 World Cup history with 39.
Although the match was lost, Kiplin Doriga put up a superb fight late into the game and scored an unbeaten 46 to push PNG to a total of 97 before being bowled out by a hungry Bangladesh bowling attack.
Saifuddin and Taskin Ahmed picked up two wickets each whereas Mahedi Hasan also popped up with a wicket.
Shakib al Hasan became the joint highest wicket-taker, joining Shahid Afridi for 39 wickets in the T20 World Cup.
