Bristol: Learning from the consecutive defeats, Bangladesh is all set to get their World Cup campaign back on track when they take on an inconsistent Sri Lanka here Tuesday.
Bangladesh kicked off their World Cup campaign with a perfect start, posting their highest one-day international score of 330-6 during the 21-run win over South Africa.
However, the Tigers were not able to take forward the winning momentum and were handed a two-wicket loss by New Zealand followed by a massive 106-run defeat to England.
In the batting department, wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim’s performance has been impressive but openers Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal squandered their starts, failing to play impactful knocks.
Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is in fine form with the bat, having scored two half-centuries and a hundred in the tournament, is expected to play the key role again for his side.
However, Bangladesh’s main concern will be their bowling that came unstuck in their previous game against England who amassed 386.
“We are disappointed in the manner we actually bowled. I thought we bowled really, really well against South Africa and against New Zealand hence were expecting a better bowling performance in this match as well,” Shakib had said after the match.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be optimistic of their chances after recovering from a crushing 10-wicket defeat in their opening match against New Zealand.
The Dimuth Karunaratne-led side beat Afghanistan in a rain-shortened game to breathe life into their campaign. But the island nation was forced to split points with Pakistan after the match was called off due to heavy rains.
So far, Sri Lanka’s batting unit has failed to last the full 50 overs in both their matches.
They lost five wickets for 14 runs against New Zealand and then seven wickets for 36 runs against Afghanistan so the 1996 champions ought to be wary of another middle-order batting collapse.
In the bowling department, Sri Lanka will miss the services of pacer Nuwan Pradeep, who was the architect of their win against Afghanistan, claiming four wickets for 31 runs.
In his absence, the onus will be more on veteran pacer Lasith Malinga to guide the side to victory against Bangladesh.
Squads
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Abu Jayed, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (c),Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay.
PTI
