Heavy rain under the influence of monsoon lying low over North Bay of Bengal has threatened to ruin the first one-day international between Bangladesh and South Africa, scheduled today at Mirpur. Light rain started coming down in many parts of the capital on Thursday and continued to grow heavy as the day progressed. The Met office recorded 17mm rain from 6am to 3pm on Thursday in the capital.
Light to moderate rain is forecasted in the city till 6pm Friday following the deep convection, leaving the chance of even a truncated game bleak, despite a very good drainage system at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
The match, which is scheduled to start at 3:00pm, has no reserve day unlike the previous home series against India, meaning each team has to bat at least minimum 20 overs to see a result.
Rain also forced South Africa to cancel their practice on Thursday though visiting captain Hasim Amla said it will not hamper their preparation for the game.
‘I think everyone had enough preparation, couple of us coming for the ODIs had good training sessions over the last two or three days,’ Amla said in his pre-match press conference.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza also refused to pay any attention on weather and was rather keen on focusing on the job in hand.
‘We have been doing well in 50-over cricket for the last eight months. Since we are playing mostly in this format, we have got a chance to do well against South Africa too,’ said Mashrafee.
If the game is abandoned it can have an impact in ICC ODI rankings, where Bangladesh is sitting pretty at seventh place. The Tigers need to win at least one game or at least avoid 0-3 to confirm their place in the Champions Trophy without waiting for the result of other teams.
Mashrafee, however, said they are not thinking too much about CT berth which dominated the pre-series talks ever since West Indies and Pakistan, the two other contenders, confirmed the participation in a Zimbabwe tri-series in August.
‘Champions Trophy is still in the distance. We should be thinking about tomorrow’s [today] game,’ said Mashrafee.
‘We have to ensure we don’t play out of our usual process, as we did in the last two T20s and the third ODI against India.
‘We have to make sure we repeat the good things that we did before. We have to be more consistent against them,’ he said.
-With New Age input
