Bangladesh will face minnows Netherlands today with an aim to take two points and improve their run-rate to give them a chance of progressing to the knockout stage of the World Cup.
A mere win may not be enough for Bangladesh as they are currently lagging far behind in terms of net run-rate compared to the other quarter-final hopefuls from a tight Group B.
No teams have yet confirmed their quarter-final places from the group though India and South Africa have their one foot into the stage. The battle is limited to Bangladesh, England and West Indies.
West Indies have an excellent run-rate after their massive victories against Bangladesh and the Netherlands and they stand a very small chance of missing out on qualification.
It can only happen if they lose to England and India in their remaining two matches and Bangladesh win both their matches. However, if Bangladesh win only one of their matches, it is unlikely that their run-rate will match that of West Indies.
The best way for Bangladesh to progress is to beat the Dutch pray for West Indies to beat England and if it happens then both Bangladesh and West Indies will be through.
If Bangladesh beat Netherlands and England beat West Indies then Bangladesh will also have to win against South Africa in their final group game, which is a difficult task for the co-hosts given their current strength.
Run-rate will come into calculation if Bangladesh beat the Netherlands and West Indies lose their next two games against England and India. Though at present it seems unlikely for Bangladesh to match their run-rate, the equation can change any time.
A good win for Bangladesh and two bad defeats for West Indies also can make it happen for the Tigers.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons, however, appeared to be very little optimistic.
‘I guess, if England win against West Indies, it’s long, long away for us,’ Siddons told reporters.
‘Mathematically, if England win their next game, we can’t get in unless we win against South Africa and that’s a very difficult task.
‘I am not going to sit down and say we will win against South Africa. If England win their
next game doesn’t matter what we do in today’s game, we have to win the last game.
‘Improving the run-rate is a difficult task for Bangladesh considering the wicket they were given,’ said Siddons.
‘I think the run-rate is very difficult here because our wicket is not a 300-run wicket. Our wicket, our grounds are very different than India and Sri Lanka,’ he said.
‘We get it lot hard to score and we got to be very careful chasing 300 runs on our wicket, it’s very difficult,’ he added.
Courtesy of New Age
