The State of Play
South Africa will all but secure qualification through to the Super Eight if they can see off Bangladesh in New York tomorrow.
The Proteas sit atop Group D with two wins from two but have yet to really sparkle in hard-fought wins over Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.
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They put together a laboured run chase against Sri Lanka while their win over the Dutch was even more fraught, slumping to three for three and 12 for four chasing 104, before seeing off their bogey side with seven balls to spare.
David Miller was the architect of their battling victory with a gutsy 59 from 51 balls.
He said: “In that situation, the only thing you can control, which I’ve learnt over the years, is the very next ball.
“You can quickly kind of fall under a lot of pressure because there’s still 90 to get and you can’t get those in one ball. So you have to take it just one ball at a time. I try to concentrate on the things that I can control: my breathing, my body language, and facing the next ball. And then obviously feeding a lot of confidence off your partner as well.”
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South Africa will need to improve if they are to extend their winning run when they come up against a Bangladesh side also boasting a 100 per cent record, albeit from just one game, a two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Dallas.
Hero of that triumph was leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, who took three for 22.
His captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said: “He was outstanding.
“He has been improving in the last few series. He practices a lot. He prepares very well. We finally have a leg-spinner.
“I was always confident about him. He is a wicket-taking bowler. It is not easy to go after a leg-spinner. They can concede one or two boundaries, but they always have a wicket around the corner. I don’t think match-ups really matter with him. He fulfilled my wish as a captain by taking out three wickets.”
Hossain is likely to be a factor again on the drop-in pitch in New York that favours slower bowlers.
Snapshots of Bangladesh’s innings against Sri Lanka
Photo Credit: ICC/Getty#BCB #Cricket #BANvSL #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/xyCIyjnvsh— Bangladesh Cricket (@BCBtigers) June 8, 2024
Expected line-ups
Bangladesh: Hasan, Sarkar, Das (wk), Hossain Shanto (c), Hridoy, Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Hossain, Ahmed, Sakib, Rahman
South Africa: Hendricks, De Kock (wk), Markram (c), Stubbs, Klaasen, Miller, Jansen, Maharaj, Rabada, Nortje, Baartman
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the T20 World Cup to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Coverage gets underway on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 3pm UK time.
In India, the games can be streamed on Disney + Hotstar app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
MVP!🏅
David Miller was named POTM following a clutch performance in our win over the Netherlands.
Credit: ICC/ Getty #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #OutOfThisWorld #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/NQ9nVMLo65
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 9, 2024
Prediction
This is a tough one to call due to South Africa’s form. They may be two from two but they showed frailties against the Netherlands that Bangladesh will have analysed and will hope to capitalise on.
South Africa’s pace attack will pose any side in the world problems but Bangladesh can counter that with the better slower bowlers.
We’re expecting a low-scoring encounter with the Proteas just edging it.
