Determined to bounce back Bangladesh are all set to take on England in their second Super 12s match of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Wednesday at Abu Dhabi.
The match is scheduled to start at 4 pm Bangladesh time.
The Tigers have lost their first Super 12s match against Sri Lanka despite posting a big total of 171. Two missed catches cost a lot for Mahmudullah Riyad and his team. Now, the Tigers are eying to play their best cricket in their first-ever T20 International against strong England.
“We know that England are a very powerful batting line-up. We have to be on our A-game if we want to challenge them and ultimately win the game,” Ottis Gibson, the bowling coach of Bangladesh, told the reporters on Tuesday.
While Bangladesh lost their first match against Sri Lanka, England beat the West Indies in a low-scoring affair, and made a flying start to the World Cup.
Read:ICC T20 World Cup 2021: How Bangladesh can qualify for the semis
“The key is to be accurate with what we deliver and back ourselves. We know they will come out hard, but they also give you chances. They lost four wickets chasing 55 against West Indies. It is something that we can use as a positive. We must be at our best, but we know that they will give us opportunities to take wickets,” Gibson added.
Mohammad Naim, who is playing his maiden World Cup, hit a fifty against Sri Lanka, and Mushfiqur Rahim also scored a fifty in the same match. Riding on their batting efforts, Bangladesh posted 171 for seven, but it was chased by Sri Lanka after Liton Das missed two easy catches. Before another World Cup fixture, Bangladesh are worried about their outfield works.
“One or two catches get dropped in every cricket match. Obviously, when the catches play a part in the result, it is highlighted more, but we do a lot of catching practice. When the guys are out in the middle under pressure, mistakes like catches going down happen,” Gibson further added.
Apart from missing catches, Liton Das has been going through a bad patch for a while now. But the team management seems to be confident of Liton doing well in the coming matches. The right-handed batter has been considered one of the best that Bangladesh has ever produced, but he is yet to prove his mettle.
In the match against Sri Lanka, premium Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman conceded 22 runs but failed to take any wicket. His off-form came as a matter of concern for the Bangladesh team management. But Gibson believed the pacer has the ability to adapt to the condition and do well.
Bangladesh have previously played 21 ODIs against England and won four of them, and they also played 10 Tests and won one of them.
While England won a T20 World Cup before, Bangladesh never won a match in the Super 12s stage of the T20 World Cups. This piece of history proves that the difference between these two teams stands high.
Read:ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh, England face off on Oct 27
Bangladesh beat Oman and Papua New Guinea to advance to the Super 12s, but they had to endure a defeat to Scotland. The Tigers need to win at least three matches at the Super 12s in order to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cups for the first time in their history.
Bangladesh’s probable XI vs England:
Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman.