Bangladesh cruise to easy win over Netherlands in series opener

Bangladesh began the T20I series against Netherlands with a convincing eight-wicket win in the first match in Sylhet, chasing down a target of 137 with 6.3 overs to spare. Taskin Ahmed starred with the ball, picking four wickets in a fiery spell before Litton Das anchored the chase with a fluent half-century. Saif Hassan contributed with both bat and ball, picking a couple of wickets to go along with an unbeaten cameo to wrap the chase with 6.3 overs to spare.

Put in to bat, Netherlands made a brisk start through Max O'Dowd, who cracked three fours and a six in his 23. He was undone first ball by Taskin, who drew a leading edge to cover. That breakthrough sparked a collapse. Vikramjit Singh was also dismissed by Taskin while attempting to hit down the ground whereas skipper Scott Edwards perished to a sharp catch in the deep off Hassan's bowling. Teja Nidamanuru, who struck a few powerful shots including a six over mid-wicket, was removed by Saif Hassan in the same over as Edwards.

The middle order struggled against pace variations, with Shariz Ahmad top-edging a pull off Mustafizur Rahman and Kyle Klein holing out against Taskin to deep mid-wicket. Taskin's fourth scalp was Noah Croes who chipped tamely to extra cover.

Lower-order runs from Aryan Dutt and Tim Pringle lifted the total as Netherlands finished on 136 for 8, a total that looked well below par on a surface expected to get easier under lights with dew.

Bangladesh made their intentions clear from the outset. Parvez Hossain Emon launched Aryan for two boundaries and a six in the opening over, and by the end of the PowerPlay the hosts were already well ahead at 57/1. Litton Das played with authority, driving and sweeping with control and raced to a half-century off 26 balls. The spinners offered little control as the dew set in and even the introduction of seam failed to slow the flow of runs.

Hassan ensured a rapid finish, striking three sixes and a four in quick time to get Bangladesh over the line and 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Brief scores: Netherlands 136/8 in 20 overs (Teja Nidamanuru 26, Max O'Dowd 23; Taskin Ahmed 4/28, Mustafizur Rahman 1/19) lost to Bangladesh 138/2 in 13.3 overs (Litton Das 54*, Saif Hassan 36*, Parvez Hossain Emon 29) by 8 wickets.