Bangladesh move closer to quarter-final spot

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh:

Bangladesh cruised closer to World Cup quarter-final qualification yesterday with a six-wicket victory over the Netherlands.

Slow left armer Abdur Razzak took three wickets and opener Imrul Kayes stroked 73 not out to give Bangladesh their second victory in Chittagong in four days, keeping alive their chances of reaching the last eight.

The Netherlands were dismissed for 160 while Bangladesh cruised to 166-4 from 41.2 overs, winning the game with a six.

Bangladesh will qualify if West Indies beat England on Thursday in Chennai. Otherwise, the entire population of 150 million will be cheering the team on when it plays South Africa in Dhaka on Saturday.

Confidence

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan said confidence was running high after two back-to-back wins.

"We will now play against South Africa taking enough confidence,'' he told reporters in a post-match press conference.

"It's now pretty clear if we win the next game, we will move to the next round,'' he said.

The Bangladesh team opened the World Cup with a loss to co-hosts India in Dhaka, then beat Ireland by 27 runs. Any encouragement gained from that was lost in a nine-wicket defeat to the West Indies, when Bangladesh was bowled out for just 58 runs.

On Monday, the innocuous Dutch bowling attack presented few challenges on a flat Chittagong wicket and Bangladesh passed the total in the 42nd over.

Imrul shared a 92-run second-wicket partnership with Zunaed Siddique. His unbeaten 73 came off 113 balls that included six boundaries, and he was declared man-of-the-match.