Bangladesh can spring into life and shock England tomorrow
Bangladesh’s journey to the wicket at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi tomorrow has been a lot more arduous than that of their opponents England.
But the Tigers are no strangers to Twenty20 upsets this year and will throw themselves at the No1 side when they meet at the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh face England this morning looking for their first win of the Super 12 phase of the tournament, which they have worked hard to reach.
They lost their opening match of the preliminary round to Scotland by just six runs, meaning they had to beat both co-hosts Oman and debutants Papua New Guinea just to qualify, despite being the sixth ranked side in the world.
Bangladesh, who are led by former South Africa coach Russell Domingo, then lost to Sri Lanka in their Super 12 opener. That has left them needing to get back to winning ways, but they face a series of challenges, including an England team buoyed by a convincing victory over the West Indies.
Bangladesh’s Batting confidence
On the face of it, Bangladesh’s 2021 looks like it has been a hugely positive one. They have enjoyed T20 series wins over Australia, their first ever, Zimbabwe and New Zealand, offset only by a series loss to the Black Caps earlier in the year.
However, those pitches were tailored for Oceanic spin, not batting. And while Bangladesh were able to use that to their own spinning advantage, their batters struggled on the surface.
Fast forward to the T20 World Cup and they look short on confidence at the crease, suggesting that their lack of successful time batting this year could severely hinder their hopes of progressing through the tournament.
In two series against New Zealand and Australia, their highest total was 141 – partly due to the pitches and partly down to the quality of spin bowling on display.
Shakib on pushing
If the Tigers are to topple England later today, they’ll need the superstar that is Shakib Al Hasan to perform and carry the team.
The slow left-arm orthodox bowling all-rounder can often be found mentioned in the company of the best all-rounders to grace the game.
His modest batting average of 23.22 in T20 cricket understates the influence and impact Shakib has on the Bangladeshi side. The 34-year-old also now holds the record for wickets taken in T20 matches with 117. Expect that to rise tomorrow.
Shakib is the soul of this Tigers side and the man they look to for his experience and ability to drive them forward.
When he’s not getting runs and wickets, he’s keeping his economy low and encouraging those who are making an impact, despite not being captain.
Confident England
If Bangladesh learned anything about their opponents’ win over the West Indies on Saturday, it’s that England look ruthless with the ball.
Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali performed superbly in England’s thrashing of the Windies, and they will have had ample opportunity to study the Bangladeshi batters’ technique.
That said, the same goes for Bangladesh. They’ll have noticed weaknesses in a much-changed England top order and will hope to use sticky pitches to spin their way to a win.
In the early afternoon sunshine of the United Arab Emirates, the toss looks all-important for both captains, Mohammad Mahmudullah and Eoin Morgan. Spin-favoured wickets suit chasing teams as they know how to pace their innings and can pick which shots to go after.
Bangladesh will therefore likely prefer to chase but, whatever happens when the coin is flipped, the Tigers will need to hunt England with bat and ball to come out victorious.