The second match to get going at the T20 World Cup on Sunday takes us back to St Vincent as we look to find out who the last team into the super eights will be when Bangladesh go up against Nepal in Group D.
Bangladesh sit in control of their own destiny. If they win this match then it will be them who go into the next phase but defeat leaves the door open for Netherlands to pinch their pocket. Nepal exit the tournament after this match.
Bangladesh
One of the bigger surprises in this tournament has been how Bangladesh have performed in it. They won their opening match, although they won’t completely convincing in it, should have won their second one against South Africa and then delivered under pressure against the Netherlands to set up this chance to progress to the next phase. When the competition began, Bangladesh were outsiders to qualify so if they deliver the goods that will be a fair achievement.
I think it is fair to say that it has been the bowlers who have got Bangladesh to this stage. That sounds like a slur on their batting but it isn’t really because this tournament has been very much one for the bowlers so it is actually a positive that the Tigers have shown that their attack is good enough to keep them in the competition. To be fair to their batters, the first time they got on a decent enough track they put up 159 so that bodes well for them.
Nepal
You can only feel for Nepal going into this match. They will know that they should be playing this one as an effective knockout clash for a spot in the next round because although they went down in their opening match to the Netherlands, the way this group had panned out, had they beaten South Africa in their last outing they would have had a chance of going through. It looked for 39 overs like they had the win in their control but when push came to shove to get over the line they couldn’t do it.
It was a heartbreaking defeat for Nepal and it would take a really big effort from everyone involved to get themselves back up for this match. If they can do it then they have a chance to not only show the world once again how much they are improving but also potentially throw a spanner in the Bangladesh works. They can at least play with some freedom here which might allow them to get over the line if they can get themselves in a similar situation as last time out.
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Team News
Bangladesh could easily pick an unchanged XI from the win over the Netherlands last time out but with the pitches in St Vincent beginning to offer up a bit of spin they might bring Mahedi Hasan into their thinking.
The Nepal XI could be down to who has come out of that narrow defeat to South Africa the best. If they want to make a change then they have Sagar Dhakal should they want another spinner to add to their collection.
Betting
There was a lot to like about Nepal in their last match and halfway through it I was lining up a punt on them for this one but the short turnaround and the heartbreaking fashion of that loss has put me off taking the underdogs here. The fact that Bangladesh are the ones who are under all the pressure still keeps me interested but I’ll avoid that and head to the player performance markets for a bet on this key encounter.
That comes in the form of Dipendra Singh Airee who looked like a decent all-rounder in that game against South Africa. He bowled four excellent overs of spin and they are likely to be given to him in this match as well and he took a couple of pressure catches in that game as well and then looked in decent enough order with the bat, which wasn’t a surprise because he has an ODI century to his name and a T20 one. He has a performance line of 26.5 and with totals in the tournament so far of 31 and 86 there is enough to think he can cover this.
Tips
Back D-S.Airee’s Performance – Over 26.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
