SPORTS

Bangladesh desperate to beat West Indies against all odds

Their campaigns thrown haywire by back-to-back losses, defending champions West Indies and Bangladesh would be locked in a do-or-die battle when they square off in a crucial group 1 Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup here on Friday.

While the West Indies lost to England and South Africa, Bangladesh were defeated by Eoin Morgan and Co. after going down to Sri Lanka.

Both teams need a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive

Bangladesh are familiar with the sluggish sub-continent tracks and yet they have failed to exploit it.

A lot was expected from Bangladesh, having come into the tournament as the sixth-ranked team which had beaten the likes of New Zealand and Australia. But the Mahmudullah-led side has been inconsistent throughout the tournament.

They have won only two of their five matches so far.

In Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh have some talented batters but they have failed to fire in unison.

Bangladesh desperate to beat West Indies against all odds

Their bowlers have also lacked discipline and will have to put up a much-improved show, as West Indies, although struggling at the moment, have a formidable batting line-up studded with match winners.

Despte the many issues plaguing the side, Bangladesh might have a slight edge going into the game, having already played a day match here on Sunday.

Bangladesh, whose T20 style is almost the opposite of the West Indies’ six-hitting formula, are also struggling in the UAE. They have been unable to put in a complete performance to take them across the line. The Powerplay, which has proved to be crucial in the tournament, has not been their strongest period.

What would motivate Bangladesh in the game is that their only victory apart from the qualifying round in the T20 World Cup came against West Indies in 2007. Since then they failed to register any victory in the elite round of
the cricket’s third biggest extravaganza.

There was high hope that they could break the jinx this time around after winning three series, including two against Australia and New Zealand at home before the World Cup.

In the qualifying round, though they lost to Scotland, they recovered from that in style and beat Oman and Papua New Guinea convincingly. But they lost the momentum again in the Super 12.

Bangladesh desperate to beat West Indies against all odds

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad stressed on reassessing the batting plan after the defeat to England in the second match in which they got a good batting wicket but still posted a below part 124-9. England raced to the victory with plenty balls remaining.

“Definitely, we were disappointed with the batting, it was a good wicket but we didn’t start well and didn’t have any partnerships in the middle either,” Mahmudullah said.

“We’ve been lacking a good start, on these wickets it gets difficult later on. We are more skilled hitters than power hitters, we don’t want to change that because we believe we can post good totals. (But) we need to
reassess and come up with a good plan,” he added.

On the other hand ,West Indies’ defence of their T20 World Cup title has got off to a rocky start. After two losses in two games, they find themselves bottom of the Group 1 table. Ahead of them are Bangladesh, who also have no wins in two matches, but have a better net run rate.

Another loss for either team will bring a premature end to their hopes of finishing in the top two of the group and progressing to the semi-finals.

West Indies’ concern going into this do-or-die clash is that their dangerous batting attack has failed to fire. They were bundled out for 55 against England, then limped to 143 against South Africa. The conditions in the UAE have not suited their style of attacking play. That they had to bat first in both matches didn’t help, especially since they prefer to chase.

Teams have targetted them with spin early, and Bangladesh, who have an excellent spin attack, will be a threat. Given Bangladesh’s left-arm dominated attack, batters like Nicholas Pooran, who match up well against it, might have an important role to play.

The match which starts at 4 PM (Bangladesh Standard Time) will be aired live on Gazi TV and T Sports.

Probable XIs:

West Indies:Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Lendl Simmons/ Roston Chase, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Akeil Hossain, Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder

Bangladesh:Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam

 

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close