Shakib, Mahmudullah star as Bangladesh rout PNG to seal Super 12s spot
Bangladesh 181 for 7 (Mahmudullah 50, Shakib 46, Morea 2-26) beat Papua New Guinea 97 (Doriga 46*, Shakib 4-9, Taskin 2-12) by 84 runs
Bangladesh couldn't have asked for a bigger margin of victory on a day when the net run rate equation was the main focus. They beat Papua New Guinea by 84 runs, which gave them an NRR of 1.733, making the Oman-Scotland contest that follows a knockout battle.
PNG slipped to 29 for 7, briefly threatening Netherlands' 39 all out as the lowest total in T20 World Cup history. Kiplin Doriga enforced their recovery with an unbeaten 46, as PNG were bowled out for 97 in the final over.
Bangladesh's big score was set up by Mahmudullah's 28-ball 50, and big-hitting from Shakib Al Hasan who made 46 and Mohammad Saifuddin who hammered a six-ball 19 not out.
Shakib bosses with the bat
Bangladesh's need for a good powerplay was finally fulfilled, thanks to big hits from Shakib and Liton Das. They reached 45 for 1 after six overs, their first 40-plus score at that point in eight matches. Liton hit a 23-ball 29, but Shakib continued to run hard, converting several ones into twos. He struck three sixes in his 46 off 37 balls, the last of which was a one-handed straight hit off Assad Vala.
But as he flagged in the Muscat heat, Shakib's innings was cut short by a brilliant Charles Amini catch, who timed his big dive to perfection at long-on. Ahead of the game, Amini said that he was looking forward to meeting Shakib, and this catch must be a great ice-breaker.
Mahmudullah tees off
Mahmudullah took off from where Shakib left off, starting with a hammer down long-on for his first six. He struck Chad Soper for two sixes through midwicket, but also managed to get fours with deft touches through point and third-man. His most delightful shot of this innings was a sweep from outside off stump against the left-arm quick Kabua Morea. It threaded between the square-leg and short fine-leg perfectly. Mahmudullah got out after reaching his 50 off 27 balls, although he didn't look too pleased to be given out off Ravu's high full-toss in the 18th over. His acceleration meant that Bangladesh were well set for a big total.
Mohammad Naim followed it up with his brilliant leap to his right at the long-on boundary, as Amini fell for 1 to Shakib. Simon Atai fell in the same over, caught at point by Mahedi Hasan, before Shakib had Bau caught at long-on, by Naim.
Hiri Hiri, playing his first game in the tournament, struck the first boundary of the innings in the tenth over, but he top-edged one to the wicketkeeper to give Shakib his fourth wicket. PNG were 29 for 7 in the 11th over, well and truly out of the contest.
Doriga saves PNG's blushes
Coming into bat in the 10th over, Doriga came in when PNG were 24 for 6. He added 25 runs with Soper for the eighth wicket, and another 26 with Morea for the ninth wicket.
He struck two fours and as many sixes in his 34-ball innings, scoring more than the top seven batters made together. He must have wanted to reach his fifty, but last-man Ravu, with whom he added 43 runs, fell to Taskin.