Skipper Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza kept Zimbabwe’s hopes alive in the World Twenty20 tournament yesterday with a hard-fought five-wicket win over the Netherlands in Sylhet.
Taylor hit a solid 39-ball 49, while Masakadza scored a 45-ball 43 to guide Zimbabwe past their 141-run target off the last ball.
When Taylor was dismissed after hitting two fours and a six, 15 runs were needed off the last 11 balls.
Photo: AFP
When the last over began, seven were still needed.
Sean Williams hit a lucky boundary and then ran himself out for 26 with the scores tied.
However, Vusi Sibanda hit paceman Ahsan Malik for a huge six to give Zimbabwe victory.
The Netherlands, who won the toss and batted, were lifted from a precarious 19-3 to 140-5 by a fighting 58-ball 72 not out from Tom Cooper, including nine fours and a six.
Cooper added an invaluable 52 for the fifth wicket with brother Ben Cooper (20) after spinner Prosper Utseya (2-24) had dismissed opener Stefan Myburgh for a duck off the third ball of the innings.
The Netherlands won their opening match against the United Arab Emirates in Group B. They will now face Ireland on Friday to decide who goes through to the next round.
Yesterday’s win keeps Zimbabwe in the race after they lost their first match to Ireland. They face the United Arab Emirates tomorrow.
BANGLADESH-NEPAL
AFP, CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh
Bangladesh put in a clinical performance to defeat newcomers Nepal by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 in Chittagong on Tuesday.
The hosts, who fielded after winning the toss, kept Nepal to 126-5 in their 20 overs before reaching the modest target in 15.3 overs.
Opener Anamul Haque scored a 33-ball 42 with five boundaries and two sixes and shared an opening stand of 63 with Tamim Iqbal (30).
Shakib Al Hasan hit four sixes in his 37 not out and Sabbir Rahman made 21 not out complete the chase.
Nepal’s modest score was built around a polished 35-ball 41 by skipper Paras Khadka and a 43-ball 40 by Sharad Vesawkar, who shared an 85-run stand for the fourth wicket.
However, the experienced pair failed to speed up things in the final overs against some tight Bangladeshi bowling.
Paceman Al-Amin Hossain was the pick of the home bowlers with 2-17 in four overs.
The second straight win puts Bangladesh in a strong position to qualify for the Super-10 stage from Group A.
They are to play Hong Kong in their last match, while Nepal meet Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and Nepal have one win in two games, while Hong Kong crashed out of the event with two defeats in as many games.
Afghanistan beat Hong Kong by seven wickets earlier on Tuesday.
Ireland and the Netherlands won their first matches in Group B on Monday.
Two teams from each group will qualify for the Super-10 stage, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow.
The final is to be played in Dhaka on April 6.
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