Bangladesh are harbouring hopes of putting up a strong showing when they face South Africa in their second match of the T20 World Cup at the picturesque Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York today (Monday). The match gets underway at 8.30 PM Bangladesh Time.
The Tigers kicked off their campaign on a winning note, edging past Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling encounter. While their
batting remains a cause for concern, the two points secured have instilled significant confidence ahead of their clash with South Africa.
Bangladesh have never beaten South Africa in the T20 format, despite having played eight matches. However, this time they exude confidence in breaking the curse.
South Africa have won their matches against Sri Lanka and Netherlands, but have struggled on slow pitches. The pitch in New York has already attracted considerable criticism, forcing the ICC to improve its standard. Nevertheless, if the surface remains slow, it will undoubtedly play to Bangladesh's strengths.
"New York will host the India vs Pakistan match before our game against South Africa, so we'll get a feel for the wicket," said Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.
"But whatever the surface, I believe that if we can play to our strengths, we can beat any team in the world."
Shanto's confidence primarily stems from the performance of the bowlers, who have consistently put in good displays, even though their efforts have often been undermined by a fragile batting line-up.
"Our bowlers have been in top form for a while now. They can give any batting line-up in the world a nightmare. I hope they'll continue doing what they've been doing over the years."
"As far as batting is concerned, I'm not too worried. You can't expect all batsmen to fire at the same time. However, there's certainly room for improvement. We've been working hard to iron out our batting problems."
Thanks to their bowlers' efforts, Bangladesh restricted Sri Lanka to just 124-9 in the first game, but they had to battle hard to chase down the target. Towhid Hridoy, the side's most in-form batsman, played a crucial 20-ball 40, which ultimately proved to be the key to their two-wicket victory.
Liton Das played a 36-ball 34, which wasn't particularly flamboyant, but considering the match situation, his measured knock was equally important. Later, Mahmadullah's experience sealed the win for Bangladesh.
"I think Sri Lanka bowled very well, but on a wicket like this, we should have won more comfortably. Very important for Litton, he's been struggling a bit but he showed his skill today. I think he batted very well. Hridoy was really courageous, the way he played that over really helped us," said Shanto.
Bangladesh are unlikely to change their winning combination if everyone remains fit.
