Three full tosses. That’s how many Keshav Maharaj bowled while defending 10 runs in the final over in New York. And had Bangladesh been able to put away even one of them, the Group D picture would have looked quite different from what it does now, with South Africa having qualified and the rest left to scrape their way to the next round.
No wonder Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladesh captain, called it a match his side “should have won”; and while that chance went abegging, they have a crucial encounter coming up against the Netherlands, a side that also is on two points after two matches. So a win here for Bangladesh could go a long way in them joining South Africa in the Super 8s.
Netherlands are also in the same boat as Bangladesh when it comes to missed opportunities against South Africa. They had Aiden Markram’s side on the mat at 12/4 but didn’t quite have answers to David Miller’s mature innings at the back end. However, Bangladesh in all their vulnerability are a more realistic hunt for the Netherlands in their campaign push for the second round.
Irrespective of who wins this clash, a result in this match will mean curtains for Sri Lanka.
When: 13 June, 2024 at 8:00 PM IST / 02:30 PM GMT / 10:30 AM LOCAL
Where: Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent
What to expect: It’s traditionally been a dry pitch and the proximity to the sea does play its part. But that said, this venue hasn’t hosted any white-ball games – domestic or International – since the start of 2014, so there’ll be a lot of unknown for the teams to contend with. The weather is set to be fair.
Teams Watch:
BANGLADESH
Shoriful Islam, who suffered a finger injury in the warm-up match against India, is expected to be available for this game. It will be interesting to see if he does come in for Tanzim Sakib, who had South Africa in a soup with the new ball the other day.
Tactics & Matchups: The lack of six-hitters in Bangladesh’s middle order was evident in their loss against South Africa, more specifically in their inability to hit loose balls from Maharaj in the final over, and it’s something that they would look to consciously improve upon. Lack of sixes isn’t a new issue for Bangladesh though; since 2023, they have the second-worst balls per six ratio among participating teams in this World Cup.
Probable XI: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Jaker Ali, Mahmudullah, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman
NETHERLANDS
If the pitch is really dry, they might consider bringing in Aryan Dutt, who relishes bowling with the new ball.
Tactics & Matchups: Netherlands would want some runs from Scott Edwards, who’s averaging under 14 across 10 T20Is this year. In some good throwback, he was the top-scorer for the Netherlands when they beat Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup last year.
Probable XI: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
Did you know?
– Bangladesh have a 3-1 record against the Netherlands in T20Is, and have won both the faceoffs in T20 World Cups
– Towhid Hridoy is Bangladesh’s leading run-getter in T20Is post the World Cup in 2022
– Since 2023, the Netherlands have hit a six every 20.6 deliveries as compared to Bangladesh, who have hit a six every 23.3 deliveries
What they said
“I think we are not only a strong enough team to go to the Super 8 but also we have the strength to play the final. I believe in that” – Towhid Hridoy.
“I think the nice thing for us as a unit is that we very internally focused so if we play our brand of cricket and attacking cricket, we think we can compete with anybody in the world” – Sybrand Engelbrecht.
