Ireland and Netherlands crashed out of the World T20 yesterday after rain forced their respective matches in Dharamsala to be abandoned with Bangladesh and Oman setting up a Group A decider to make the Super 10s.
While Netherlands’ match versus Oman was called off without a ball being bowled, Ireland got some action against Bangladesh before heavy rain intervened and washed away their hopes.
“I know we are out of the competition. It’s a disappointing thing for ourselves, kind of last thing on our mind and it’s hard to take when the rain interrupts here,” a dejected Ireland captain William Porterfield said.
After a delayed start, the second match witnessed Ireland winning the toss and inviting Bangladesh to bat in a game reduced to 12-overs-a-side.
Opener Tamim Iqbal’s breezy 47 provided good entertainment to the sparse crowd that had stayed on patiently as Bangladesh were 94 for two after eight overs when rain stopped play for one final time.
Bangladesh’s innings started like it did against Netherlands, with a dropped catch of Soumya Sarkar in the first over.
This time it was Andy McBrine who spilled the chance at deep midwicket.
McBrine also conceded four overthrows in the next over before Tamim took to the Ireland bowlers with muscular hits.
In the same over, he walked across to the off side to swing Boyd Rankin for a whipped six over fine leg before bunting him down the ground for four to get 16 runs from the over. Bangladesh were quickly up and running.
Tim Murtagh was also hit for a six over mid-off, and four through the covers in the next over.
Soumya then struck three fours off Kevin O’Brien, an over that went for 19, the second of which was dropped by Rankin at mid-off.
The third boundary was a scoop which completed Bangladesh’s first fifty-plus opening stand in two years.
Tamim welcomed McBrine into the bowling attack with a straight blast for six before the offspinner had Soumya Sarkar stumped for 20 off 13 balls.
Bangladesh were 63 for 1 in five overs before George Dockrell, who replaced Craig Young, was reverse swept for four off his first ball. Tamim survived a stumping chance off the next delivery before Sabbir Rahman slammed McBrine for a straight six in the next over.
Tamim struck his fourth six in the eight over and three balls later was caught by the Ireland captain William Porterfield at short midwicket, having made 47 off 26 balls with three fours and four sixes.
Rain, accompanied by lightning, interrupted play again as Tamim trudged off, depriving Ireland of a shot to redeem themselves.
“Tamim has always been an important player for us and he was good in PSL (Pakistan Super League) and now he takes his form into the World Cup. So it’s good for us,” said Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza.
Earlier the Dutch, who shared a point with Oman in the rained-off game, had been put in to field after losing the toss but play was not possible due to bad weather.
“There’s extreme disappointment. We’ve put in a lot of time, effort and energy in trying to qualify. For it to end like this after having lost to Bangladesh in a closely-fought game, we are gutted,” Dutch skipper Peter Borren said.
There are no reserve days at
the tournament to cater for rain-hit matches.
Oman, who stunned Ireland in their first group encounter, are looking like giant-killers ahead of their winner-takes-all clash against favourites Bangladesh today.
“We were confident coming into the game. We are still alive if we beat Bangladesh. We put in consistent performances in the qualifiers in Ireland and Scotland. They (players) are all excited,” a beaming Oman captain Sultan Ahmed said.
Oman had defeated Ireland by two wickets in their first game while Bangladesh edged the Netherlands by just eight runs.
Afghanistan will take on Zimbabwe today where the winner will make the Super 10s, while Hong Kong meet Scotland in the other Group B match.