Netherlands captain Scott Edwards won the toss Monday and sent Bangladesh in to bat in cold conditions in Hobart in the opening game for both teams at the Twenty20 World Cup.
The Dutch qualified for the Super 12s by placing second to Sri Lanka in their preliminary-round group last week.
Bangladesh had an automatic entry into the Super 12 stage but has had a run of poor form in the T20 format since the last World Cup, with just four wins from 19 games including four straight losses in a Tri-Series in New Zealand earlier this month.
Action in Group 2 was continuing a day after India’s dramatic, last-ball win over Pakistan in front of more than 90,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday night.
Virat Kohli produced what he described as the finest T20 innings of his career, and one his captain rated as the best by any India batter.
Kohli set the tempo of his innings perfectly, batting conservatively early in a 113-run partnership with Hardik Pandya before stepping up late to reach 82 from 53 balls as India reeled in Pakistan’s tally of 159-8.
“From the situation we were in, it has to be one of India’s best knocks, not just his best knock,” India’s captain Rohit Sharma said.
Dutch captain Edwards was inspired to bowl first after seeing a lot of success for teams chasing targets so far in the tournament.
Netherlands won back-to-back games in the last overs against the United Arab Emirates and Namibia in the preliminary round last week before losing to 2014 champion Sri Lanka to place second in the group.
Edwards said his team had achieved its first goal of reaching the Super 12s, now the focus had to shift to winning against top-ranked teams.
South Africa was playing Zimbabwe later Monday.
Lineups:
Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Shanto, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Musaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud.
Netherlands: Max O’Dowd, Vikram Singh, Bas de Leede, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (captain), Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren.
Source: Yahoo News
BDST: 1020 HRS, OCT 24, 2022
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