Both teams announced themselves at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 with convincing victories, but have failed to build on to that success.
While aggression with the ball has paid rich dividends for West Indies, their batsmen’s shot selection has offset some of that and cost them games. Against England on Friday, 14 June, West Indies collapsed from 144/3 in the 30th over to 212 all out in the 45th. Adding to the woes are injuries to their key players, as Andre Russell and Sheldon Cottrell could bowl only five overs between them before leaving the field on Friday.
Bangladesh’s success in the tournament so far has revolved around Shakib Al Hasan’s contributions with the bat at No.3. The bowling succumbed to the pressure created by England in Cardiff and failed to create enough wicket-taking opportunities, conceding 386/6 in the allotted 50 overs. Mashrafe Mortaza will hope for a much-improved performance against a powerful Windies line-up, and lead the efforts himself.
While playing conditions in Taunton favour West Indies more, Bangladesh would draw confidence from their success over Jason Holder’s men in recent times. With both teams currently locked at three points each, there’s little room for complacency in the all-important fixture on Monday. The match kicks-off at 3.30 PM (Bangladesh Standard Time).
Key Players
Shai Hope (West Indies): The wicket-keeper batsman averages a staggering 94.57 against Bangladesh, almost twice his overall career average of 49.72. West Indies, who lost to Australia and England due to lack of partnerships with the bat, need someone to play a long innings – who better than Shai Hope to do that?
Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh): A key middle-order batsman, Mushfiqur, along with Shakib, laid the foundation for Bangladesh’s win over South Africa with a steady innings of 78. Mushfiqur, who has scored five half-centuries in his last ten outings against West Indies, averaging 63.71 in that time, will aim for a big innings on Monday.
Conditions
A fine start to the day is expected, with early sunshine, followed by partly cloudy intervals thereafter. With the sun expected to stay out for the most part, and the boundaries at Tauton featuring short dimensions, a high-scoring game could be on the cards.
Squads:
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (wk), Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
