The Bangladesh national cricket team will begin their Super Eight campaign on Friday when they take on Australia at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, and their batting order will be in focus in the tie as this is the department that has consistently failed throughout the tournament.
This is already the Tigers鈥� most successful T20 World Cup bout, as they have won three matches鈥攕omething they never did in the main stage of the past editions鈥攁nd could have made it four out of four if not for the narrow defeat to South Africa.
However, in all four of their matches, their batting order could not provide the team with decent starts, as there have been only two knocks of significance from the top three 鈥� Liton Das鈥檚 38-ball 36 against Sri Lanka and Tanzid Hasan Tamim鈥檚 26-ball 35 against the Netherlands.
The form of skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has been particularly worrying, as he has scored 26 runs in four games, averaging just 6.50.
The other batters have not been in much form either. Shakib Al Hasan just hit an unbeaten fifty against the Netherlands, but that鈥檚 it so far, and while Towhid Hridoy started the tournament brilliantly, his form has also fizzled out in the final two group stage games.
Their bowlers have so far bailed the Bangladesh batters out鈥攅specially against Nepal, when the bowlers produced a 21-run win despite having a total of 106 runs to defend鈥攂ut Shanto said they needed to step up with the bat.
鈥楴o, it is not actually possible that every day the bowlers will make the team win. I hope they make us win every day, that鈥檚 what I hope for, but the batsmen also have a responsibility. And why it is not happening, everyone is trying to find out. But it is not happening anyway, and it is not acceptable. So, it is definitely a reason for us to worry,鈥� he said after the Nepal game.
The Antigua ground has seen some quick-scoring games this tournament in comparison to other grounds, as Australia chased down 73 in just 5.4 overs against Namibia and England took just 19 balls to chase down 48 against Oman.
However, those low first-inning totals suggest that the pitches there are not a pit for bowlers to fall, but rather they will have some assistance, which Bangladesh must use against the Australians, who are still unbeaten in this tournament.
The match will begin at 6:30am, with Nagorik TV televising the tie live.