T20 World Cup: Taskin Ahmed bowls Bangladesh to victory over Netherlands

Taskin Ahmed took four wickets as Bangladesh won their first-ever T20 World Cup Super 12 game on Monday, beating the Netherlands by nine runs in Hobart.

The Netherlands, who battled through the preliminary round to reach the Super 12, held Bangladesh to 144-8, with Paul van Meekeren becoming his country's joint all-time T20 wicket-taker along the way.

But they got off to a horror start in the run chase, losing two wickets in the opening two balls to Ahmed, then slumped to 15-4 in cold conditions to put them on the back foot.

Colin Ackermann – with 62 off 48 balls – played a lone hand, making his maiden T20 half-century as partners fell around him and the Netherlands were all out for 135 on the final ball.

Defeat was a heavy blow for the Dutch with two points desperately needed in a group that features heavyweight opponents India, Pakistan and South Africa.

But it was a relief for Bangladesh, who qualified directly for the Super 12 but have suffered from poor form since the 2021 World Cup, playing 19 T20 internationals, losing 14, before meeting the Dutch.

"It was an important win, I've played all editions but haven't won," said Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan. "We were 10 runs short but the way our pacers bowled was tremendous. We understand the importance of fast bowling now, across formats. We've found talent. Hasan [Mahmud] is new, Taskin's developed well in the past few years.

"We want to be the best fielding side given we have a young team. We have the belief that we can save 5-10 runs which can make a big difference."

After being sent into bat, Bangladesh plundered 12 off Fred Klaassen's opening over and kept the pressure on as the bowlers struggled to maintain their line.

With temperatures hovering around 12