10:00 AM UTC: South Africa vs Bangladesh, Group 1, Super 12s, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
South Africa and Bangladesh will meet for what will be both squads’ fourth game of the Super 12s. Bangladesh is pretty much out of the Semi-Finals picture with three losses while South Africa is in crunch-time mode with two wins and a loss.
South Africa: Strong bowling and a scrapping batting
South Africa has done well to remain in contention for the Semi-Finals. While Anrich Nortje has offered a lot of pace up-front, Dwaine Pretorious has finished matches with his wide-yorkers and slower deliveries. On the other spinners, Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj have each stepped in different games, while Kagiso Rabada has also been decent as a seamer. South African bowling has not allowed more than 142 runs so far.
South Africa’s batting has been here and there. While Quinton de Kock has not made much of an impact, Reeza Hendricks has played a handy 39 runs innings. On the other hand, after a poor couple of games, Temba Bavuma played a dogged inning of 46 runs. Rassie van der Dussen has looked in fine touch while Aiden Markram has been the most in-form batter. David Miller showed in the last game that he has a lot to offer, finishing the business with two sixes against Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh: Talented but misses out on key moments
Bangladesh has terrific individual players but the team falls apart during crucial parts of the game. The team has dropped a lot of catches and the batters are unable to launch during the latter or the early parts of the game. Despite having a strong middle-order with the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, things haven’t clicked. Liton showed form in the last game while Naim has scrapped some 60+ innings too, but as a unit, we haven’t seen the best of Bangladesh.
Even the bowling has been inconsistent for Bangladesh. Mustafizur Rahman has not delivered in key moments while Mehdi Hasan has been up-and-down. Shoriful Islam has shown that he can strike and keep the run rate down while Taskin Ahmad had a superb spell against West Indies. However, once again, as a unit, the bowling has not come together.