Bangladesh and South Africa, who have yet to taste a defeat in the T20 World Cup 2024, will go up against each other on Monday (June 10) in Match 21 of the ongoing edition at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York.
A victory in this fixture by Bangladesh could be a huge relief for Bangladesh, given that they are pooled into a Group of Death alongside Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Netherlands.
South Africa
Despite winning two games on the bounce, South Africa’s batting unit looks vulnerable so far in the competition. Their bowling unit, on the other hand, performs like a well-oiled machine, restricting the opposition well below a par total with a ruthless show.
Anrich Nortje and Ottneil Baartman, in particular, have been in stupendous form, while David Miller stole the thunder in their previous fixture with yet another clutch performance. All in all, they look like a very challenging team that could dream of winning the title.
Bangladesh
The Tigers, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, pulled off an excellent show altogether against their noisy neighbours Sri Lanka. However, their batters disappointed, with skipper Shanto and star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan failing to live up to their lofty expectations.
Bangladesh may bring in Shoriful Islam as an extra pacer in New York, where fast bowlers have been massively successful throughout the competition. To make it happen, Soumya Sarkar may have to be sidelined, as Bangladesh have plenty of batting options in their playing XI.
SA Vs BAN: Match details & Live Streaming
New York, June 10, 2024
SA Vs BAN: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium Pitch Report
The pitch in New York has been very disturbing for the batters, who tend to struggle here from the get-go. Only wristy batters have seen success here, while fast bowlers have wreaked havoc in almost every phase of the innings. Fast bowlers are likely to dominate in New York again and we should get low to middling totals. A sunny day has been forecast.
SA Vs BAN: Probable Playing XIs
Bangladesh (probable XI): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Litton Das (wk), 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan, 10 Taskin Ahmed 11 Mustafizur Rahman
South Africa (probable XI): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram (capt), 4 Tristan Stubbs, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Ottneil Baartman, 11 Anrich Nortje
In the spotlight - Towhid Hridoy and Anrich Nortje
Towhid Hridoy is quickly enhancing his reputation as a big hitter – his four sixes against Sri Lanka in Dallas proved the difference in a low-scoring game. Hridoy has now struck 42 sixes in his 15 months of international cricket, comfortably the most among Bangladesh’s batters in this period.
Anrich Nortje is working his way back into rhythm after a long injury layoff. He was off the boil in IPL 2024 and then went wicketless in two T20Is in the Caribbean. So far in the T20 World Cup, though, he has been on target, rushing batters with high pace and bounce. Nortje has good memories against Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup too, having taken 4 for 10 against them in Sydney in the 2022 edition.
