The weather did not dampen the spirits of Bangladesh on Sunday evening, as they continued their global cricket resurgence with an easy victory over the surprise team of the tournament so far, Oman.
Tamim takes control
Oman, who would have been shocked to have the opportunity to qualify in their final group game, won the toss and elected to field. Openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar were steady in their progress as they scored just 35 runs from the opening six overs. The intention was clear, play yourself in and then look to score some runs, but the plan did not work for Sarkar who will feel he wasted his 22 balls as he was bowled by Ajay Lalcheta for just 12 runs.
Number three Sabbir Rahman was not to make the same mistake and his arrival encouraged Tamim to go through the gears. The pair increased the run rate to 7.5 midway through the innings as they consistently hit the boundary rope. Tamim hit another four for his half century off just 35 balls, before bringing up an exciting 50 partnership with a six off the next ball.
With confidence growing, both Sabbir and Tamim began to free their arms further, now clearing the rope on numerous occassions. Oman eventually found a breakthrough in the 16th over as Khawar Ali bowled out Sabbir. The damage had been done though, with Sabbir walking off for 44 from 26 balls as Bangladesh found themselves on 139-2.
Shakib Al Hasan came to the crease with the freedom to play, but it was Tamim who stole the headlines when he smashed several more sixes to make his first Twenty20 century off just 60 balls. Shakib chipped in with 17, as Bangladesh set a huge target of 180 for Oman to chase down.
The weather, and Bangladesh bowlers, cut through the Oman innings
The incredible batting innings from Bangladesh certainly made them favourites and their bowlers soon put them comfortably in control of the match. Taskin Ahmed struck after just two balls do dismiss Zeeshan Maqsood for a duck. Khawar Ali tried to counter-attack, smashing the only six of the Oman innings, before falling to Al-Amin Hossain for just eight runs.
The rain came down with Oman on 19-2, before Jatinder Singh and Adnan Ilyas showed some resilience with a partnership of 30 before the latter was run out by Soumya. New batsman Aamir Kaleem faced just two balls before he was dismissed without scoring by Shakib, leaving Oman at 45-4 as the players were forced off oncemore.
The bad weather only prolonged the inevitable, as the underdogs came out requiring an unlikely 75 runs from 22 balls. The Bangladesh bowlers did not waste any time as they ripped through the Oman middle and lower order, with Shakib picking up another three wickets, finishing with figures of 4-15, as captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Sabbir also added a number to their wicket columns. A sorry looking Oman scorecard finished on 65-9, 55 runs short of their revised Duckworth-Lewis target.