There are two matches in the T20 World Cup on Wednesday and the first of them has a really interesting twist to it. It sees Pakistan taking on Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata and both sides do so knowing there is a chance to steal a march on India after their collapse on Tuesday.
To add to the interest in this match when the two sides met in the Asia Cup last month Bangladesh edged out Pakistan and went into the final, a final Pakistan had high hopes of making it into prior to that encounter. Revenge might be the wrong word but that defeat should fire Pakistan up.
Pakistan’s off field problems have been clear for all to see but now they have the chance to get the attention back on their on field qualities. They’ve been very hit and miss in recent times though so they will be desperate to get into the match early on. A confidence boost ahead of the clash with India on Saturday is a must.
It looks like Ahmed Shehzad is going to be thrown into the Lions (or Tigers) den. Pakistan’s openers have failed for far too long so it was no massive surprise when he was recalled to the ranks. Wahab Riaz looks set to edge Mohammad Sami out in the seam department.
Bangladesh are really on a high at the minute. Not only did they make that Asia Cup final, almost against the odds but they also eased through their qualifying group for this tournament with Tamim Iqbal leading the way in style. Those matches came at the right time for them as Shakib was able to find some form and that could be crucial.
Taskin Ahmed sat the previous match against Oman out while his bowling action was being looked into but there is talk he could come back into the side for this one. Mustafiqur Rahman is yet to play in the tournament after pulling up injured in the Asia Cup but he will be assessed on the day and could return to the team.
Eden Gardens in Kolkata hosts its first match of this tournament in this game. It will also host the final in two weeks time as well. There has been one previous full T20I here which England beat India in. The wicket then had a bit of pace and bounce but it is much slower these days.
If you look at the head to head record between these two you will see that Pakistan lead it 7-2 but a lot of those matches were while Bangladesh were establishing themselves at this level. Therefore I’m not sure it carries a whole lot of weight in this game.
Maybe a better focus would be that Asia Cup clash where actually Bangladesh were really impressive with the bat and the ball in that match. They bowled well at the beginning and the end of the innings so that Pakistan’s power batsmen couldn’t take the game away from them and even though Tamim and Shakib never got going with the bat they still kept their nerve to chase 130 with five balls to spare.
You get the feeling there is a lot more to come from this Bangladesh side and they played some great cricket since then both in the Asia Cup and the qualifying for this event. Bangladesh are on the drift but given they should be more familiar with the conditions and probably have little to lose I’ll take a chance they repeat their Asia Cup success over Pakistan.
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