Bangladesh face Windies in do-or-die battle

Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign is standing at a crossroads when they face West Indies in their fifth match at Taunton, the tiniest of all tournament venues at the home of Somerset County Club, today.

The Tigers must win the contest if they are to give them a realistic chance to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament that has too many contenders with very little to separate each other. 

Bangladesh and West Indies will begin the match on par with both teams accumulating identical three points playing four matches, where they won just one game each.

A defeat in the game could be fatal for either side, which made it virtually a pre-quarterfinal, where pressure will be on both teams to deliver.

West Indies came into the tournament as a rank outsider having required playing a qualifying competition, where they finished behind Afghanistan, which reduced the expectations on the side.

Bangladesh, whose best result in a World Cup is quarter-final berth four years ago, on other hand were carrying a huge expectation to give one shot better following a steady performance in the past years.

Bangladesh’s recent success included seven wins against West Indies in all conditions since 2018, which also made them favourites to win this contest in Taunton, though they have few things going clearly against them in this World Cup.

They were yet to get the best cricket from some of their top cricketers, which sparked some debates, especially on social media, leaving some players discontent and mentally unsettled.

Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’ s best batsman in many counts, whose last two one-day international centuries came against West Indies , could score just 59 runs in three matches.

Skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza is facing most of the criticisms for his underwhelming performance, which yielded him just one wicket from three matches.  Mashrafee was also blamed for blocking the inclusion of Rubel Hossain, which, according to some analysts, denied Bangladesh the right balance. 

Bangladesh players have often buried criticism against them with individual and collective efforts and a similar effort is required to negotiate the threat of West Indies, who are on the rise as a team.

West Indies brought a full strength team for the first time in a tournament in some years, which made them a threat for any side, though they were yet to play with full potential except for one game against Pakistan.

The Caribbean pace bowlers demolished Pakistan for 105 runs and will certainly look to do the same against Bangladesh if they get the condition that is helpful for the seamers.

The Tigers seemed to have taken adequate preparations to face their short balls and were looking for an opportunity to give the side a dose of their own medicine with the bat.

The size of the ground is expected to give West Indies’ power-hitters a strong chance to put a good total but Mashrafee said it may make the job easier for Bangladesh too.

‘West Indies’ mishits go for sixes in any ground. It will count as six in this ground, not twelve,’ Mashrafee said on Sunday.

‘We have to look at it positively as the smaller ground will also suit our batsmen. The bowlers will have the bigger challenge because many 50-50 shots will become a six, but that is mostly the case against West Indies.’

Bangladesh is likely to add a pacer for the game but West Indies captain Jason Holder was not expecting revolutionary game plan from the Tigers.

‘I don’t want to sit here and try to perceive what they would come with, but we’re open to anything. Traditionally they rely heavily on their spinners. We don’t expect them to move too far away from it,’ he said.

The match will start at 3:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time and will be televised live on GTV, Mashrangaa TV and Start Sports.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net