Bangladesh hope that they will be able to put up a tough fight when they will take on South Africa in their second game of the T20 World Cup at the scenic Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York today. The match starts at 8.30 PM (Bangladesh Time).
The Tigers kicked off the event with winning note, edging past Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling contest. When their batting was still a concern, the two points that they earned gave them the immense confidence ahead of facing off South Africa.
Bangladesh had never beaten South Africa in T20 format despite playing eight matches but this time they oozed with confidence to break the jinx.
South Africa won their match against Sri Lanka and Netherlands but struggled a lot in slow pitch. The pitch in New York had already gauged a huge criticism, forcing ICC to improve its standard. However if the pitch remains slow, no doubt, it will play to Bangladesh's strength.
"New York will host India vs Pakistan match ahead of our match against South Africa. So we'll get some idea about the pitch," Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said.
"But whatever it is, I believe if we can play to our strength we can beat any team in the world."
Shanto's confidence basically stemmed from the performance of the bowlers, who consistently put a good show even though most of the time their effort was undermined by the fragile batting line up.
"Our bowlers have been in top form for sometimes now. They can give any batting line up of the world a nightmare. I hope they will continue to what they have been doing over the years."
"As far as batting is concerned, I am not worried that much. You can't expect all batters to fire simultaneously. But it is true there is room to work. We have been working hard to fix our batting problems."
Thanks to bowlers performance, Bangladesh restricted Sri Lanka for just 124-9 in the first game but they had to toil hard to overhaul the target. Towhid Hridoy, the most inform batter of the side played an impactful 20 ball-40, which eventually was key in their two-wicket victory.
Liton Das played a 36 ball-34 runs which not looked so handsome but considering the match scenario, his slow knock was equally important. Later Mahmdullah's experience won the game for the Bangladesh.
"I think Sri Lanka bowled really well, but on a wicket like this we should have won this easily. Very important for Litton, he's been struggling a bit but he showed his skill today. I think he batted really well. Hridoy was really courageous, the way he played that over really helped us," Shanto said.
Bangladesh are unlikely to break the winning combination if everyone remains fit.
Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Travelling reserves: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeze Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs. Reserves: Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi.
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