With an aim to earn full two points, Bangladesh will take on Nepal in their last group match of the T20 World Cup tomorrow (Monday) at St Vincent in West Indies. The match starts at 5.30 AM (Bangladesh Time).
The Tigers are in second spot now in their Group with four points and have been in advantageous position to go through the Super 8 after South Africa.
A full two points against Nepal will confirm that no equation is needed for them to move to the Super 8 but a defeat won't ruin their hopes. If Bangladesh taste a defeat and Netherlands beat Sri Lanka by big margin, in that case, the Tigers could be eliminated from the Super 8 race. But those scenario looks all unlikely.
Bangladesh played against Nepal only one time in this format and won that match convincingly in 2014. With the World Cup pitch giving them a home like wicket out of home, Bangladesh are clear favourite to win this game.
"There is no small or big team in T20 cricket. We try to see each team equally. Because T20 is a game of momentum. It is a game of only 20 overs. No one can say when the momentum changes. We try to take each team equally," Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib said ahead of the match.
Sakib further ensured that Bangladesh would stick to their plan to play the aggressive brand of cricket regardless of the opponents.
"We will play aggressive cricket. We will stick to our place. It doesn't matter who the opponent is. We will try to play equally with everyone. And what you said about the wicket, we saw the wicket and there was some grass in the wicket and it seemed a bit hard. So, until the first ball, we can't say anything. Maybe after the first ball, we can say something about the wicket."
Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by two wickets in a thrilling contest to kick-off the campaign but thereafter suffered a heartbreaking four-run defeat to South Africa. However they hit back to winning way again with 25-run victory against Netherlands. All of those, they played was held in day but the match against Nepal will be a day-night game. Sakib thinks it won't be problematic for them.
"We have played many day-night matches. This is not our first time. We all are experienced here. We might have to adjust the catch at night. We all have experience here, so this is nothing new for us. The team management can say it better whether we will play with an extra spinner or not, I don't have any idea about that," he said.
Bangladesh are unlikely to tinker with their squad for this match as they want to retain the winning combination.
Squad:
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Taskin Ahmed, Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Travelling reserves: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee.
