Bangladesh have somewhat turned around their form in 2014, putting together three wins in a row in the last week. All three may have come against Associate Nations, but the last of those victories was necessary from the point of view of staying alive in the World T20. Their second game of Group A, against Nepal, will be yet another chance to reinstate the confidence within the team, and ensure a smooth passage to the main draw. For Nepal however, the game against Bangladesh is what they have worked so hard for in the last 18 years. This is their first ever international match against a Test-playing nation, and one can only imagine how much they will be raring to have a crack at the hosts. From their big win against Hong Kong on Sunday night, it became evident that their main batsmen and bowlers have the capacity to be mentally strong enough when they have to stand up. Gyanendra Malla and captain Paras Khadka added 80 runs for the third wicket, which recovered the innings from an iffy 36 for 2 to a strong 116 for 3. Nepal would however look forward to Subash Khakurel and Sagar Pun to get them a better start, while Binod Bhandari and Sharad Vesawkar will be expected to push on a bit faster when their batting opportunities come. Nepals bowling was great to watch too, particularly how well Khadka and Sompal Kami started with the new ball. Shakti Gauchan and Basant Regmi, the teams left-arm spinners, gave a good account of themselves as well. One would expect Bangladesh to do well against left-arm spinners as well as a generally inexperienced attack. This could be one of the last few opportunities for their batsmen to gain a good habit of identifying areas in which they can keep hitting and finding boundaries. More importantly, Mushfiqur would want his top order to do the whole job, particularly Anamul Haque who has looked in good touch but seems to struggle to build on from a good innings. Bangladeshs bowling too can push on, particularly the pace bowlers who racked up an impressive number of dot balls. They should bowl similarly against Nepal, but at the same time realise that T20 cricket is all about bowling good overs and not spells. Al-Amin Hossain bowled one poor over against Afghanistan and didnt get a bowl thereafter, so the attack would try to avoid such mishaps. Nepal, however, are playing to create that mishap.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:19:21 +0000
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