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Bangladesh will look to continue their good start in the 2022 T20 World Cup against South Africa as the sides meet in Sydney today.
The Tigers beat Netherlands by nine runs to claim their first-ever win in the Super 12 stage and kickstart their campaign with full points, meaning they currently sit top of Group 2.
Taskin Ahmed starred with the ball as he picked up his career-best figures of 4-25, and Hasan Mahmud also did well picking up 2-15. Among the batters, Afif Hossain struck 38, while the opening pair of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar brought them a good opening start after a year.
While it was all good for Bangladesh, it was gruelling for South Africa. Their first match against Zimbabwe was washed away when the Proteas were well within reach of the win as they were 51-0 after three overs chasing 64 in seven. But then the rain poured in, and the Proteas were deprived of a point. Thus, as Bangladesh will look to make it two out of two, it will be a do-or-die clash for South Africa as they will need a win to keep their hopes of a semi-final alive.
For Bangladesh, the last meeting between the sides in the format was not much pleasing as the Proteas battered them. The teams met in the Super 12 stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup, where Bangladesh failed to tackle the pace, bounce from the South Africans, and bundled out for only 84.
In reply, while Taskin breathed fire and caused the Proteas some trouble, they comfortably won the match by six wickets.
But the Tigers have good memories of facing South Africa in One-Day Internationals as earlier this year, they won their first-ever series against them in South Africa, and Taskin was the player of the series with eight wickets, which included a five-wicket haul in the series-deciding match.
And Taskin has started the World Cup on a good note, and Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan hopes that he and the other pacers will continue on that note.
“He’s (Taskin) one of the leaders now after Mashrafe’s (Bin Mortaza) exit. He has done tremendously well in the last two-three years for Bangladesh. He’s leading by example. Having said that, we’ve got a very good fast-bowling group in all three formats, and they are doing well.
“Can’t be more proud of the way they’ve improved themselves and come this far, and the result has been showing now. I hope they continue this format through this World Cup, and I’m sure we’ll have a very good World Cup,” Shakib said in the pre-match press conference.
Shakib said they were going into the game with an open mind and wanted to enjoy the match.
“We don’t have the toss in our hands. But we will do whatever is required to win the game. It’s a very important match for us. It’s also a do-or-die match for the Proteas. We want to play with an open mind and not focus on things we can’t control. We want to enjoy the match,” Shakib said.
In the last T20 World Cup, Bangladesh failed to deal with the pace and bounce of the Proteas. South African pacer Lungi Ngidi warned the Tigers that they will go in with a similar strategy today.
“I think at the moment we’re just playing towards our strengths. From the games we’ve watched, pace has been probably the most successful throughout this tournament, so we’re going with our strengths. Towards the Bangladesh side, obviously, we’d like to attack them with our strength, and that is the pace,” Ngidi said in the pre-match press conference.
Shakib though was not much worried about the fiery quicks of South Africa as he wanted to do what they did in their ODI series win earlier this year.
“We have played the South African pacers, though it was in ODIs. We know how they can attack us. We have prepared ourselves in that manner, and we have been successful. I hope we can reply to their attacks and the batters know what can happen. If we can counter-attack to their plans, I think we will be ahead,” the Bangladesh skipper said ahead of the match.
