Bangladesh will take on 2009 champions Pakistan in their last Group match of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium today needing to win the match by an unlikely margin if they are to qualify for the Super Eights stage.
The match will start at 4pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
It would be a great achievement for Bangladesh cricket if Mushfiqur Rahim’s men qualify for the Super Eights by beating top favourites Pakistan by the requisite margin in the do-or-die match, but the reality remains that it is a tough ask.
New Zealand have already qualified to the Super Eights despite their 13-run loss to Pakistan in the second match of Group D; their huge 59-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Group D game means that their progress is confirmed.
Bangladesh not only need to win the match but in order to qualify they have to beat the favourites by 36 or more runs if they bat first, while they have to wait for the completion of the first innings to know the equation if they bat second. According to rough calculations, they will have to win the match within 15 to 17 overs if they bat second in the day-night encounter.
Pakistan is always a tough opponent for Bangladesh — they are yet to beat them in any format since their victory in the 1999 World Cup in England — but they can draw inspiration from their last meeting in the Asia Cup final where the Tigers lost the match by only two runs.
The two teams have so far played five T20Is and on all occasions Bangladesh lost badly, so they have to conquer new ground if they want to win today’s crucial match.
Strength-wise, there is a huge difference between the teams; Pakistan’s variety in spin bowling may prove particularly dangerous for the Tigers. The third game of Group D is going to be played on a new surface and it seems that Bangladesh are not much bothered about the behaviour of the pitch as Pakistan have all the weapons in their bowling attack to exploit any conditions.
So Bangladesh’s only hope is that they come out with their best possible performance when they take the field today. What may make things harder for them is that two key players may be unavailable today — fast bowler Mashrafe Bin Mortaza injured his shin during practice while star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was feeling under the weather yesterday. The news from the camp however was that Shakib should be fit to play while a decision will be taken on Mashrafe before the match.
Among the things that they can control is an improvement in their fielding performance, which was terrible in the first match against New Zealand.
-With The Daily Star input
