Who: Bangladesh vs South Africa
What: ICC T20 World Cup Group D Match
When: Monday, June 10, 10:30am local time (2:30pm GMT)
Where: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York, USA
How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live text and photo coverage begins at 11:30 GMT
South Africa head into the clash against Bangladesh knowing that a win will all but guarantee their place in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup.
The Proteas have had two contrasting encounters on the tricky pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, but will enjoy the experience of playing two matches when they face Bangladesh on Monday.
If Aiden Markram’s team wins, it will consolidate its leadership position in the so-called group of death, which also includes Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Nepal.
But Markram is wary of the threat Bangladesh poses, especially with their overall bowling attack.
“It will be a suitable challenge for us [against] a very strong Bangladesh team,” the South Africa captain told reporters on Sunday.
The Proteas have played all their matches in New York so far and have a slight advantage over Bangladesh, who last played there in a June 1 friendly against India, and Markram said greater knowledge of conditions will help them plan . to improve.
“We can develop plans [on] like getting to a score of maybe around 140 if we bat first and hopefully our bowlers can do the rest.
Bangladesh enjoyed strong support in their first match against Sri Lanka in Dallas and Markram expects more of the same in New York but said his team will focus on the action inside the boundary ropes and not beyond.
“I think there are some South Africans living [here] – so for them to show up in large numbers and support us was really cool.”
Bangladesh ready for a “good fight”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said his team was “relieved” to have surpassed the target against Sri Lanka in the first match, but expects them to perform better in the remaining three group games.
“Lately we have been inconsistent,” said the coach, blaming a lack of confidence.
“Confidence plays an important role in T20 cricket and it is a difficult format because you need [be on the] start from the beginning.
Bangladesh’s batting has been poor in recent games but middle-order batsmen Liton Das and Towhid Hridoy have been in good form in the T20 World Cup. Both batsmen were the leading run-scorers for the Tigers against Sri Lanka. Hridoy hit four sixes in his 20-ball-40.
However, conditions in New York will be different and Hathurusinghe expects hitters will still struggle to hit big shots despite the recent improvement in the playing surface.
“If they [batters] they cannot adapt to the conditions, it is difficult for them. [Their] success depends on your ability to adapt.”
Hathurusinghe said the South African bowling attack could pose problems for his team but they were ready for “a good fight”.
Field and climatic conditions
The much talked about New York pitch has looked relatively settled since the opening match between India and Ireland, although the players should still find plenty of assistance.
The previous day’s India-Pakistan game saw both teams surpass 100 runs on the new surface that was unveiled for the match.
The weather forecast is partly cloudy with a light breeze. Intermittent rain may disrupt play for a brief period.
Head to head
South Africa dominates their South Asian opponents in T20 formats, having comfortably won all their eight encounters.
Three of those victories came in the T20 World Cup.
Form guide
Bangladesh overtook Sri Lanka in the opening game, but just barely. Before the World Cup, they lost a T20 series against co-hosts USA and won a hard-fought T20 series at home against Zimbabwe.
South Africa managed to overcome a strong Dutch challenge in the second game, largely thanks to David Miller’s heroics with the bat. The game was played in New York and the Dutch’s disciplined bowling left the Proteas on the ropes. Markram’s men won their opening match against Sri Lanka, also in New York, with relative ease. However, they lost a T20 series against the West Indies 3-0 just before the World Cup.
Bangladesh: WWLLW
South Africa: WWLL
Bangladesh national team news
Bangladesh are expected to field the same team that defeated Sri Lanka on Friday.
Squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
South Africa national team news
Despite the challenge posed by the New York pitch and the stutter against the Netherlands, it is unlikely that South Africa will change the XI that earned them their second victory in the tournament.
Squad: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Bjorn Fortuin, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
