Photo Credit: BCCI
Bangladesh will look to put all three phases of the game together and hit ‘full throttle’ when they face Papua New Guinea with a place in the Super 12 on the line, according to batting coach Ashwell Prince.
Bangladesh will look to put all three phases of the game together and hit ‘full throttle’ when they face Papua New Guinea with a place in the Super 12 on the line, according to batting coach Ashwell Prince.
Bangladesh suffered a surprise six-run defeat to Scotland in their opening match at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 but overcame a wobble to rebound with a 26-run triumph over Oman.
Victory over PNG on Thursday would move them to four points and if Scotland beat Oman later the same day, then the Tigers would qualify for the Super 12 as runners-up in Group B and move into Group 1 as team B2.
However, if Bangladesh and Oman both win then three teams would be tied on four points, with net run-rate deciding who advances to the next stage.
And while Prince is keen to put as much pressure on the other teams as possible, he wants his side to firstly focus on producing a complete performance.
“We’re not at full throttle yet,” said former South Africa international Prince. “We fancied ourselves in the first game to chase 140 against Scotland.
“They obviously came back well after being 53 for six, posted a competitive score and we were disappointed not to get that.
“We bounced back nicely yesterday (against Oman). It was a tough match. I think it was a lot of pressure in terms of playing against the home team and obviously going out of the competition if we lost the game.
“That was a big result for us but even so, there are still parts of our performance that we felt we could have done better at. Hopefully we will improve even tomorrow as we go into the final game.
“There is not much margin of difference in the run-rates of Scotland, Oman and Bangladesh but we have the equation within us, within the team and the players know exactly what to do.
“Unfortunately, we play the first game. We will have to do our bit and try and apply the pressure on to Scotland and Oman. But we have a fair idea of what we need to do.”
Bangladesh entered the tournament sixth in the MRF Tyres Men’s T20I Team Rankings and favourites to qualify for the Super 12 from Group B but Prince says nerves have played a part in the Tigers not producing their best cricket yet.
“Definitely in the first two fixtures there would have been nerves around,” he added. “Obviously we try and speak to the guys before the game to prepare them as much as possible.
“Bangladesh coming into this group as the Test-playing nation, you sort of have a target on your back, with the other teams coming after you. We realise that.
“Obviously Scotland put in a disciplined bowling and fielding performance but fortunately yesterday (against Oman) we got things going, and I think we’re getting stronger at the moment.”
Despite defeats to Oman and Scotland so far, Papua New Guinea can still mathematically qualify for the next stage if they beat Bangladesh and Oman lose, although there would also need to be a huge turnaround in net run-rate.
PNG’s focus is simply on earning an historic win on their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup debut and experienced batter Charles Amini claims they are taking inspiration from Scotland.
“It’s probably the biggest opportunity, I guess, as far as the games that we’ve had so far,” he said. “This will be our first test as a team against one of the best T20 teams going.
“Although they lost their first game, they’re still a good team, and we’re really looking forward to this opportunity.
“We’re really proud of our efforts of making a World Cup. This is our first time at a World Cup and we’ve lost the first two games, but we still have a chance.
“Scotland caused an upset in the first game and we’re pretty sure that we can also do the same thing.
“It will be history in the making to win at least a game in the World Cup. So that would be the first thing – whatever happens after that is not in our control.
“If there’s an opportunity in us qualifying for the next stage with the net run rate, we’ll obviously try to work towards that and winning in that way but we’re just looking forward to trying to get a win for PNG.”
