Tough task awaits against spirited Zimbabwe

Bangladesh will hope to bounce back against Zimbabwe in their third Super 12 encounter of the ongoing T20 World Cup as Shakib Al Hasan and his troops reached Brisbane yesterday.

The Tigers succumbed to a record 104-run defeat against South Africa in Sydney on Thursday following a nine-run win over the Netherlands in their opening game. It will be important for Bangladesh to regain confidence after South Africa handed them the biggest defeat, in terms of runs, in T20Is.

Bangladesh’s batting remains under the scanner, as it has been over the years. Only four Tigers batters were able to hit double digits against the Proteas while chasing a huge target of 206 runs. Bangladesh were eventually bundled out for just 101 runs in 16.3 overs.

The Tigers’ inability to tackle pace and bounce in Australian conditions will once again be tested, this time by the tall Zimbabwean bowlers — the likes of Blessing Muazarabani, Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava, who showed great promise on their way to a memorable one-run win against Pakistan in their last game on Thursday.

Apart from the quicks, it was Sikandar Raza who rose to the occasion with the ball. Raza scalped three crucial wickets in the middle overs to restrict Pakistan and aided Zimbabwe to successfully defend a small total of 129 runs.

From Bangladesh’s point of view, it won’t be an easy task against a spirited Zimbabwe as the African team continue to ooze in confidence with their improved brand of cricket.

Earlier this year, the Tigers lost a three match T20I series 2-1 in Zimbabwe, where Raza played a pivotal role both with bat and ball and the 36-year-old will once again look to be the key performer in the biggest stage.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, changed their team combination in the second game — bringing in off spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz by replacing Yasir Ali — but it didn’t pay dividends.

The Bangladesh team management will be hoping their pacers make a strong comeback after an ordinary performance against South Africa, a game which saw Rilee Rossouw smash the first century of the ongoing mega event.

Despite picking up an early wicket, of skipper Temba Bavuma, Bangladesh kept losing their way onwards as Rossouw and opener Quinton de Kock stitched a record 168-run partnership for the second-wicket.

Taskin Ahmed, hero of the first game for Bangladesh, conceded 46 runs from his three overs and removed Bavuma, while Hasan Mahmud came back well in the latter stage of the innings despite being initially expensive.

Bangladesh can, however, take some positives after the way they kept runs in check – having conceded just 29 runs in the last five overs of the innings — following the onslaught from Rossouw and De Kock.

It will be interesting to see how Shakib and Company prepare the game plan with less than two days to go before they take on a spirited Zimbabwe side.

Although Bangladesh’s record in the shortest format may not give much encouragement, the Tigers can take some positives from their head-to-head record against Zimbabwe, having managed to win 12 out of 19 encounters against the African nation.