SA challenge for Tigers

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Bangladesh will desperately try to bury their wretched start to the Cricket World Cup Super Eights when the competition resumes after a two-day break with the Tigers facing serious title contenders South Africa in Guyana today.

It would be a tough task for Habibul Bashar’s men to regain confidence after disappointing performances against reigning champions Australia and New Zealand although they get fours days’ rest before facing the current top-ranked side of the world.

The match, which starts at 7:30pm Bangladesh Time, will be telecast live by state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV) and SET Max from the Providence Stadium in Georgetown.

South Africa have four points after wins against Sri Lanka and Ireland while the Tigers are at the base of the table after two defeats in the Super Eights.

Although coach Dav Whatmore’s desire to get the India job could be in the back of their minds, captain Habibul Bashar said that his boys are only focusing on the game.

“We are not thinking anything rather than our performance in the coming games. We didn’t get any official version on the issue. We lost our first two Super Eights matches badly and the boys’ confidence is little bit dented. Our only objective is to play good cricket against the top ranked side (South Africa),” Bashar told a TV channel yesterday.

Bangladesh, who lost their first match against unbeaten Australia by ten wickets and suffered a nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand, failed to keep up their first-round momentum against the mighty opponents mainly due to poor batting and must gear up in this area if they want to push their opponents.

The Tigers, who have never beaten the Proteas in seven meetings, retained the same 12 from the last game, keeping out-of-form opening batsman and vice-captain Shahriar Nafees in the bench.

The match in Guyana will be Bangladesh’s only game at this venue before they switch to Barbados for the last three matches.

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