News Desk :
Bangladesh are eying to secure their first victory beyond the qualifying round of the Twenty20 World Cup since 2007 when they take on Sri Lanka in their first game of the Super 12 at Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE) today.
The match scheduled to start at 4 PM (Bangladesh Standard Time) will be aired live on Gazi TV and T Sports, reports BSS.
Bangladesh clinched the spot in the Elite round, after a disastrous start to the World Cup of this
shortest format, being shockingly beaten by Scotland by six runs. They then made a huge turnaround, defeating Oman by 26 runs and thereafter crushed Papua New Guinea by 97 runs.
The T20 World Cup indeed has not been a happy hunting ground for Bangladesh, largely due to their vulnerability to play this format. After their success in the inaugural edition in 2007, when they made it to Super 8s, they failed to register a single win in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 editions.
Bangladesh however found them in winning ways in 2014 when the event was expanded to 16 teams, topping Group A in the first round only to lose all four matches in the Super 10 stage.
It was a similar story in 2016. The Tigers topped the first round before losing all of the matches in the main round. But they crashed out in heartbreak after a devastating one-run to India, losing three wickets in the last three balls, when they needed just two runs of three runs.
But when the opposition is Sri Lanka, Bangladesh could ooze with confidence ahead of the clash even though the Lions have been in tremendous form after winning all three matches with ease in the qualifying round.
Bangladesh’s highest runs in this format came against this Lankan side in the Nidahas Trophy, when they chased Lankan’s 214-6 successfully to make 215-5. Mushfiqur Rahim played an amazing 35 ball-72 not out to give the side an unbelievable five-wicket victory. In the double leg three-nation tournament that also involved India, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in the second- leg match too with tensed two-wicket victory.
That was a match in which the players of the two teams were involved in verbal altercation for several times with Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.
At one stage Shakib threatened to leave the game unfinished protesting of umpire’s decision.
Eventually, the team management could tame Shakib and Mahmudullah Riyad, now the captain of the team, ensured Bangladesh’s victory to help them reach the final. However they lost the final to India after fighting till the last.
Overall Bangladesh had played 11 matches against Sri Lanka in this format and won four including those last two consecutive victories in the last two meetings and lost seven.
But keeping aside the memory of that bad-tempered match, Bangladesh sought a winning start in a bid to make a smooth journey towards semifinal in the tournament for the first time. Therefore captain Mahmudullah wants performance from the youngsters like Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh.
“Their performance is a positive sign for us. Saifuddin has bowled well in all three matches, and batted well. Mahedi has been outstanding with the ball. Naim made 64 in his first match,” Mahmudullah said.
Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (Captain), Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shamim Patwari, Rubel Hossain.
