Bangladesh look to get back on track against confident Oman

Sports Tuesday 19/October/2021 09:32 AM
By: ICC
Bangladesh look to get back on track against confident Oman
Bangladesh were found lacking on a number of factors on Sunday: down on boundaries, chewing up dot balls and lacking in ways to attack both in the Powerplay and the death

Muscat: After a loss in their opening game, Bangladesh have another challenge coming up against co-hosts Oman in their Group B fixture.

Bangladesh were left with some difficult questions about their batting after Scotland consigned them to a loss on the opening day of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. They have little time to get their campaign back on track, as a defeat on Tuesday to Oman could knock a proud cricketing nation out of the tournament in the First Round.

Bangladesh were found lacking on a number of factors on Sunday: down on boundaries, chewing up dot balls and lacking in ways to attack both in the Powerplay and the death. They were just 25/2 in the Powerplay – a period of play that is proving to be key in matches in the region in recent weeks.

The team have won series against Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand this year, though, so will be backing themselves to bounce back quickly.

Oman will be wary of the wounded Tigers, with the co-hosts themselves riding high after a dominant 10-wicket win against PNG in front of a home crowd. They ensured that Sri Lanka had a wobble in the warm-up games, and will be hoping to use all their learning and preparation from the past few weeks against Bangladesh too.

If they manage to surprise the higher-ranked side, they will find themselves on two wins and in an excellent position to go through to the Super 12s. A loss will not be the end of their campaign, though Oman were defeated by Scotland in the 2019 Qualifier, and won't want to rely on a result in the third match.

The Teams

Bangladesh's bowlers did a good job to reduce Scotland to 53/6, and came in for praise from their skipper. Spinners Mahedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan were especially effective in drying up the runs and shared five wickets. However, there might be some shuffling in their batting order, with the opening pair coming under pressure.  

Possible Bangladesh XI: Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.

Oman's mild concern will be that their middle order didn't get a hit in the first match. Ayaan Khan, who did not bowl in the first game, could give them another left-arm spin option, with off-spinner Nestor Dhamba also on the bench.  

Possible Oman XI: Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas, Jatinder Singh, Khawar Ali, Kashyap Prajapati, Naseem Khushi (wk), Mohammad Nadeem, Ayaan Khan, Sandeep Goud, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan

Key Players

Jatinder Singh: The Oman opener top-scored for his side with 73* off 42 balls against PNG. The knock included four sixes. He is also good on the sweep shot, so he will have a job to do against Bangladesh's spin attack.  

Liton Das: The Bangladesh opener’s strike-rate is especially high in the Powerplay, coming in at around 142 as against a career strike-rate of 125 in all T20s. In the UAE, where a good start has been key, his team will expect him to take on the responsibility. His role will also be important if Bangladesh are playing with an eye on the run-rate.

Captaincy pick - Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan surpassed Lasith Malinga’s record to become the leading wicket-taker (108) in Men's T20Is during the opening encounter of the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup. The last time he played against Oman in 2016, Shakib bagged four wickets and gave away just 15 runs.

Despite his failure against Scotland, he will continue to bat in the top order and he can be backed to come good. The in-form Bangladesh all-rounder has picked 16 wickets in 13 T20I innings this year at an economy of 6.1 and his all-round threat makes him the top captaincy pick for this match.

Must-have - Bilal Khan

The left-arm pacer has been one of the most consistent players for Oman in recent times and he is definitely a must-have in all fantasy teams given his form and the context of the tournament. Bilal Khan picked up a couple of wickets in the tournament opener against Papua New Guinea and has an impressive bowling strike rate of 14.2 in 35 T20I innings.

The Ladder situation

Bangladesh win

If Bangladesh win they can move level on points with Oman and will very much be alive going into the final match of the round. If Scotland lose their earlier match against Papua New Guinea, all four teams would be level on two points, bringing net-run-rate firmly into the equation.

Oman win

If Oman win they should have done enough to secure themselves a spot in the Super 12s. Bangladesh would require Scotland to lose their final two matches while they themselves beat PNG to reach the next round.

What They Said

Mahmudullah, Bangladesh captain: “Our batting is a concern. We have to bat better. We have to play aggressive cricket, regardless of the situation. We have a deep batting line-up, with Mohammad Saifuddin at No.9. We may need to think over some changes."

Zeeshan Maqsood, Oman captain: "We have to look at our fielding, and minimise our mistakes. Our catching is alright, but ground fielding has to be better, [we struggled] due to nerves. We can't take it easy and we need to correct our mistakes."