We are back to double headers at the T20 World Cup 2021 on Tuesday with the opening match being a key clash in Super 12 Group 1 as Bangladesh take on South Africa in the latest big contest in Abu Dhabi.
Bangladesh already know their fate in this competition. Their three losses have already seen them eliminated from the tournament but South Africa have their semi-final hopes in their own hands and a win here moves them a step closer to achieving that landmark.
Bangladesh
You wondered if Bangladesh were going to flatter to deceive in this competition when they dropped the opening match of their campaign against Scotland in the first round and despite rebounding to qualify comfortably, they have been found out in this Super 12 stage and have been pretty disappointing in the process it has to be said. That isn’t to say they have always been outplayed though. They were well in front in two of their three matches but haven’t been able to get the job done.
The damage was done when they allowed Sri Lanka to chase down a sizeable score against them in their first Super 12 match and then the final nail went into the coffin when they couldn’t get over the line against West Indies last time out. Bangladesh have been guilty of not finishing innings off with the ball and haven’t built enough partnerships earlier in their batting efforts to give themselves the best chance deeper in the piece. They have no competitive strain on them here which might free them up to play a complete game.
South Africa
After losing their opening match in agonising fashion, South Africa deserve credit for coming back with a couple of wins which have kept their tournament alive. They have England in their final match so they have to win here to give themselves the best chance of making the semi-final but they should be feeling good about their chances after those two wins. They beat Sri Lanka last time out in a match they looked dead and buried in and sometimes doing that can give a team even more confidence.
I’m not going to condemn the South Africans for falling over the line against Sri Lanka at the weekend. Sri Lanka are playing a lot better than their results suggests so it was to South Africa’s credit that they came through that. They could do with better starts to their batting innings moving forward in the competition but you would think their top order players are too good to keep failing. If South Africa keep improving by the match that is all anyone can ask.
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Key Men
With Shakib-al-Hasan out injured Mehidy Hasan might be a big player for Bangladesh in this match. His four overs of spin should be tough to face and he is a handy lower order hitter where South Africa have been found out once or twice.
Aiden Markram has looked very comfortable with the bat in this tournament and there are a few left handers in the Bangladesh team that his off spin might target. South Africa should have bowled him more than they did against Sri Lanka and might not make that mistake again.
Betting
This pitch in Abu Dhabi hasn’t been the easiest to predict in this tournament so I’m not really too keen on getting involved in the match betting here. I’m already on South Africa outright which hopefully will be enhanced with a Proteas win here so I don’t need to bet on the outcome of the contest given that I’m already cheering a South Africa win. There is one bet that I like though which comes in the form of the player performance of Aiden Markram.
He has a performance target of 29.5 points which when you consider he has been opening the bowling for South Africa in this tournament looks pretty big. His off spin could easily come into play in this match and I fancy he’ll bowl a full allotment of overs in this pitch plays how it has been doing in this tournament. He has also been batting very well too with scores of 40, 51* and 19 in the main event and a 48 in one of the warm up matches. He is also a decent fielder so through the three scoring methods I expect him to get to 30 points in this one.
Tips
Back A.Markram’s Performance – Over 29.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Betway
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