Taskin, Litton lead Tigers to comfortable win

Skipper Litton Das blazed his way to a brisk half-century after Taskin Ahmed's four-wicket haul set the stage for Bangladesh's commanding eight-wicket win over the Netherlands in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing 137, Litton led from the front, bringing up his fifty off just 26 deliveries. The right-hander struck six fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 29-ball 54, stitching together an unbroken 46-run stand with Saif Hassan. Saif provided the finishing touches with a 19-ball 36, which included three maximums and a four, as Bangladesh wrapped up the chase in just 13.3 overs.

Earlier, Taskin starred with the ball, returning figures of 4-28 to restrict the Netherlands to 136 for eight. The pacer removed both openers -- Max O'Dowd (23 off 15) and Vikramjit Singh (4 off 11) -- inside the first eight overs to put the brakes on the scoring. He then struck twice at the death, claiming his third four-wicket haul in T20Is and second against the Dutch, having earlier achieved the feat against Ireland.

Part-time off-spinner Saif chipped in with two wickets (for 18 runs), including the key wickets of skipper Scott Edwards (12 off 7) and Teja Nidamanuru (26 off 26) in the 10th over, ensuring Bangladesh remained in control throughout. While seven Dutch batters reached double figures, none managed to cross 30, with Nidamanuru top-scoring.

Taskin four-fer restricts Netherlands to 136-8

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed picked up four wickets to help restrict Netherlands to 136-8 in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Taskin dismissed both Dutch openers -- Max O'Dowd (23 runs off 15 balls) and Vikramjit Singh (4 off 11) -- within the first eight overs to keep their scoring rate in check and scalped two more at the death to ensure the visitors don't amass a considerable total. It was the 30-year-old's third four-fer in the format and second against the Netherlands, with another coming against Ireland.

Taskin impressed amongst the frontline bowlers and had help from part-time option Saif Hassan (2-18) who used his gentle off-spin to great effect -- removing skipper Scott Edwards (12 runs off seven balls) and Teja Nidamanuru (26 runs off 26 balls) in the 10th over -- which helped the Tigers maintain control throughout the innings. Seven Dutch batters reached double figures but none of them could cross 30, with the inning highest being scored by Nidamanuru.   

Taskin strikes twice as Netherlands struggle 

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed struck twice and part-timer Saif Hassan scalped as many to reduce the Netherlands to 68-4 after 10 overs in the first T20I of the three-match series  at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Taskin dismissed both Dutch openers -- Max O'Dowd (23 runs off 15 balls) and Vikramjit Singh (4 off 11) -- within the first eight overs to keep their scoring rate in check. The visitors managed to amass just 34 runs for the loss of one wicket in the Powerplay.

Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards, who looked good for his seven-ball 12, was dismissed when Saif came to bowl his first over -- the 10th over of the innings. After a drinks break, with two ball remaining to end  the over, set batter Teja Nidamanuru threw his wicket away following a run-a-ball 26. 

Tigers to field first 

Bangladesh skipper Litton Das won the toss and opted to field in the first T20I of the three-match series against the Netherlands at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

The Tigers' starting eleven feature five changes from their last T20I match, played against Pakistan, with batter Saif Hassan making the cut after having played five T20Is since making debut in 2021.  

Bangladesh have won four and lost only once against the Netherlands in the format -- two of those victories came by a slim margin of eight and nine runs.

Bangladesh XI: 1 Tanzid Hasan Tamim, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Kumar Das (capt & wk), 4 Saif Hassan, 5 Tawhid Hridoy, 6 Jaker Ali Anik, 7 Shak Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam

Netherlands XI: 1 Max O'Dowd, 2 Vikramjit Singh, 3 Anil Teja Nidaminuru, 4 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 5 Shariz Ahmad, 6 Noah Croes, 7 Kyle Klein, 8 Tim Pringle, 9 Aryan Dutt, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Daniel Doram