Taskin Ahmed finished with his career best 4-25 that guided Bangladesh to register their first ever victory at the Super 12 stage of T20 World Cup as the Tigers beat Netherlands by nine runs in Hobart on Monday.
The Tigers scripted their last victory in the main event of the T20 World Cup in 2007 against the host South Africa.
Taskin Ahmed was the standout bowler, taking four wickets, while Hasan Mahmud took two and Shakib Al Hasan took one to bowl out the Netherlands for 135 in the allotted over.
Colin Ackerman, who fought lone-handedly, finished with 62 off 48 balls.
Bangladesh scored 144-8 in the stipulated over, led by Afif Hossain's 27-ball 38 and Najmul Hossain Shanto's 25 off 20 balls.
For the Dutch, Paul van Meekeeren and Bas de Leeds claimed two wickets each, and Fred Klaassen, Tim Pringle, Shariz Ahmed and Logan van Beek ended with one each.
Although Bangladesh made a cautious start after being sent to bat, with the opening pair, Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain, forming a 43-run partnership, they were unable to sustain the tempo, losing their top five batsmen for 76, putting the team under tremendous pressure.
In the sixth wicket stand, Nurul Hasan and Afif Hossain added a 37-ball 44 to exceed the hundred threshold with catapulting a humble 144-9.
Netherlands, chasing a modest 145, also struggled, losing their top two batsmen, Vikramjit Singh and Bas de Leede, for 2 inside the two deliveries that stood Taskin before the hat-trick, but Ackermann cleared it, clipping through mid-wicket.
Then it was the fourth over when the Dutch lost Max O’Dowd and Tom Cooper trapping run out that generated huge pressure for the side.
In the fifth wicket-stand, Ackerman and Scott Edward added 44 runs to conquer the pressure, but they failed after Shakib impelled the latter to give a catch to Hasan Mahmud.
However, Ackerman went big guns to boost the team total before he was removed by Taskin Ahmed in 16.5 overs.
Although Paul van Meekeren smacked a 14-ball 24, it couldn’t appear as if it was enough to avoid the defeat.
