Bangladesh defeated Nepal to earn their place in the 2024 T20 World Cup

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In Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on Sunday, Bangladesh defeated Nepal by 21 runs to clinch the final position in the T20 World Cup Super 8 round. Bangladesh now joins India, Australia, and Afghanistan in Group 1 of the Super 8s after their victory.

After winning the toss and fielding first, Nepal held Bangladesh to 106, but they were bowled out for 85 with four balls remaining. In the first seven overs, Tanzim Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman destroyed the Nepal top order. Tanzim made four runs in the first over following the powerplay, having taken three during the powerplay. With four overs remaining, he concluded with figures of 4/7. Then, it appeared as though Kushal Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee would lead Nepal’s innings back on course. But when the former fell to Mustafizur in the 17th over, Bangladesh quickly regained control of the game.

With Mustafizur dismissing Airee off the final delivery of the 19th over and Shakib Al Hasan collecting two wickets off the first two deliveries of the 20th, Nepal lost their last three wickets in a row. Tanzid Hasan was earlier removed by seamer Sompal Kami with the opening ball of the innings. Tanzid made the strange decision to dance to the first ball down the track. He misjudged his effort at a pull shot, which resulted in a straightforward catch and bowled for Sompal.

Bangladesh into Super 8

Then, in the second over, spinner Dipendra Singh Airee clean bowled Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto. In his opening delivery, Nepal’s captain Rohit Paudel persevered with the outstanding Sompal Kami for three overs and was rewarded by taking the vital wicket of Litton Das.

When Sandeep Lamichhane dismissed Jaker Ali with a magnificent googly in the 16th over, Bangladesh was 75-8. The pitch gave enough of swing for the spinners, and Bangladesh struggled to generate any form of momentum. After deciding to go all out, Rishad Hossain scored 13 off seven balls, including a six and four. However, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed put up 18 runs and took the total to three figures before Mustafizur was run out in the last over.