The tides have turned within the space of three months. A strong Australian side had succumbed to their first T20 series defeat against the Tigers during their tour of Bangladesh in August. Now, the Aussies are eyeing a semi-final berth in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, while Bangladesh, yet to register a win in the tournament, are on their way out.
Mahmudullah's side will seek a consolation win in their final Super 12 match against Australia in Dubai on Thursday. The match is slated to begin at 4 pm Bangladesh time.
However, all is not lost for the Bangladesh team. They may still be able to break their 14-year losing streak in the main stage of the T20 World Cup. A win here will improve their ranking and increase the chances of qualifying directly for the Super 12 stage of the next tournament, reports bdnews24.com.
It has turned into a long World Cup for the Tigers. Bangladesh was the first team to bid goodbye to the Super 12 stage. The team suffered four consecutive defeats and the self-confidence of the players have hit rock bottom. The Tigers may still draw some inspiration from their last T20 series against Australia, where they defeated the tourists 4-1.
The Australian squad that toured Bangladesh was missing many regulars like Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell and the team will be looking to avenge their previous loss to Bangladesh.
The Tigers were wrapped up for only 84 runs against South Africa in their previous game. The team has been mostly let down by its batting. In the odd matches where the batsmen shone, the bowling and fielding were poor. All in all, Bangladesh has failed to put up a well-rounded display. The Australia match is their last chance to salvage some pride before heading back home.
Bangladesh's spin bowling coach Rangana Herath expects the team to perform well regardless of the previous losses.
“We have another match left in the tournament. I'm sure the boys will perform well. As professionals, it is important for us to come back strong. We have another chance to win a match against Australia. The boys will have to analyse their own performances. I'm sure they will turn things around."
THE TEAMS
Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Bangladesh are likely to bring back Mustafizur Rahman at the expense of Nasum Ahmed.
Bangladesh (probable) 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Liton Das, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam
