Sunday, March 8, 2015

England Take on Bangladesh in a Virtual Quarter Final

Bangladesh vs England, Adelaide Oval on 9th March 2015 - Match Preview

Bangladesh have 5 points from 4 games. England have only 2 from as many. Bangladesh have games against England and New Zealand left. England have still to play Bangladesh and Afghanistan. If Bangladesh win this then they move to 7 points and England cannot catch up. Thus this is a virtual Quarter Final for both these teams!

Bangladesh batting has largely depended on Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim but Tamim Iqbal hit a 90 odd against Scotland and will have gained some confidence from that knock. Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman have also been in decent nick and Bangladesh will mostly rely on these players to do the bulk of the scoring for them. Anamul Haque suffered from a dislocated shoulder against Scotland and will miss the game.

Mushfiqur Rahim has been in fine form in the World Cup 
and will be looking to score a big one against the Poms!

The Bangladesh bowling is led by their large hearted captain Mashrafe Mortaza but he appeared to be limping for nearly half of Scotlands innings during their last game. Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain can bowl quick but will they also be accurate enough is the important question. The spin bowling will be handled by Shakib and Mahmudullah, both of whom are pretty good with their changes of pace and variations in flight.

The English batting has blown hot and cold with Moeen Ali and Ian Bell looking a million dollars at one moment but old coins in another. They were blown away by Mitchell Marsh and Tim Southee before finding runs against Scotland and Sri Lanka. Joe Root and James Taylor have been the standout performers with the bat for England. Eoin Morgan found some form in the last two games against Sri Lanka and Scotland but can he get a big one to save England. They are yet to try out Alex Hales who seems to be waiting for his chance.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad are as good a bowlers that one can wish to have in their team but both of them seem to be in a wretched form. They are not getting wickets early on and getting hammered in the slog overs. Woakes has been accurate and consistent but he needs support from the experienced English bowlers to make any difference. Steven Finn, too has not been his usual self and as a result not getting the results that he would have hoped for. Moeen Ali and Joe Root will shoulder the spin responsibilities. England should consider bringing in Jordan for Finn. The bowling unit will need a huge lift in their performance from the last game where Sri Lanka had battered them in to submission.

Key Battles: Bangladesh vs England

Shakib Al Hasan vs Chris Woakes

James Anderson and Stuart Broad vs Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah Riyad

This will be a cracker of a match and the winner takes it all. Bangladesh defeated England the last time they met in a World Cup match in 2011. Bangladesh fans will be hoping for an encore. There is also a chance of rain affecting this match and if this is washed out then England's chances will be washed out with that.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bangladesh deserve to be in Quarters, England have played terribly.

DS said...

@ Alok - I agree, they have been terrible in all the games so far. Bangladesh have actually good in some of the games!