Sports Desk: Bangladesh cricket team reached Sydney on Tuesday (October 25) with the aim of continuing the winning streak. The Tigers will take on South Africa in their second match of the T20 World Cup Super Twelve on Thursday (October 27). Earlier, Bangladesh started the World Cup mission with a 9-run win against the Netherlands in the first match of the season. The win on the hard pitch in Hobart on Monday (October 24) was the Tigers’ first win since the West Indies in 2007 in the main stage of the tournament.
This is the first win for Team Tigers after losing four consecutive matches in the tri-series in New Zealand. Tiger captain Shakib Al Hasan feels that this victory in the first match of the World Cup has made the team somewhat confident. The world’s best all-rounder credited the pacers for the win, terming it as an important win. The reason given was that the team was 10 runs short of the expected target. Taskin Ahmed played the biggest role to win with 144 runs for 8 wickets. His career-best haul of four wickets for 25 runs kept the Tigers in no danger.
Shakib expects the pacers to maintain the same performance in the upcoming match against South Africa. The Tigers arrived in Sydney on Tuesday (October 25) but have not practiced there yet. Instead, the group spent time traveling around Sydney, visiting attractions such as the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House.
The Bangladesh team has a three-hour practice session on Wednesday (October 26), a day before the crucial match against South Africa on Thursday (October 27). However, South Africa have already played their first match in the tournament. The match against Zimbabwe in Hobart was washed away by rain and they had to share the points. Sharing the points in a must-win match cost the Proteas a huge loss. As a result, the match against Bangladesh has become much more important for them to raise their hopes for the semi-finals.
But if they can secure their first win on the world stage against South Africa, then the Tigers can become important contenders for the last four from Group-II alongside India and Pakistan.
