With their World Cup bid firmly back on track, England have now shifted their attention to Bangladesh and are fully aware of the backlash they might face against their beleaguered hosts.
Bangladesh were humiliated by West Indies in their latest game having been dismissed to their lowest ever one-day total of 58 runs for a nine wickets.
A defeat to England will virtually end Bangladesh’s hope for progress and it has made the England game a do-or-die clash for them. It could have been effectively a knock-out game for England as well if they had not defeated South Africa by six runs in their previous outing.
England suffered a massive shock against Ireland and are desperate to avoid it against Bangladesh.
‘It’s a massive game for England,’ paceman Stuart Broad told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday.
‘We know Bangladesh is going to come out hard against us, having had a disappointing result against West Indies. They are always a difficult side to beat on their home turf and I’m sure the atmosphere will be fantastic,’ Broad said.
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is the one man England need to worry about particularly after the left hander performed brilliantly against them at home and away in both one-day internationals in a year.
Tamim, who averages 32.14 runs against England with a staggering strike rate of 104.65, his highest against any international team, gave England a massive scare in an ODI in 2010 with a century.
‘We played quite a bit against him in 2010,’ Broad said ‘He’s a very talented player, who looks to have an explosive start.’
‘But we’ve got some high-quality players in our line-up and we’ll look to do our basics very well against him and create pressure,’ Broad added.
England will go into the Bangladesh game
without their inspirational former skipper Kevin Pietersen as he needed immediate attention on a hernia.
They were, however, boosted by the arrival of Eoin Morgan in Chittagong on Tuesday as a replacement for Pietersen.
Morgan, a dangerous middle-order batsman, was withdrawn from the squad with a broken finger but Pietersen’s exit earned him a recall.
‘He’s [Morgan’s] been our best one-day batsman for the past year. He’s won us games single-handedly. I know the whole squad is excited about his arrival,’ said Broad.
‘We know what a skilful player he is and what he can add to this team. So it’s a big boost to have him in the side because we know he can win games and plays spin particularly well.’
Courtesy of New Age
