Sports Reporter :
After defeating Sri Lanka by two wickets in their first match of Group-D in Texas on Saturday last, the highly spirited Tigers will face Proteas in their second Group-D match of the T20 World Cup (WC) today at New York. Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead Bangladesh as the captain, while Aiden Markram will lead South Africa as the captain.
The match will start at 8:30pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). Private satellite channel Nagorik TV will telecast the match live.
South Africa made an auspicious start as the Proteas thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets in their first Group-D match at New York on January 3.
Before today’s match, Bangladesh faced South Africa faced each other in eight T20I matches. Of them, South Africa recorded eight victories, while Bangladesh failed to win in any occasion.
Chairman of the Cricket Operations Committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Jalal Yunus said, ” We want that Shakib Al Hasan will perform well. Because Shakib is an all-rounder. If Shakib works hard, he will return to form. I hope he will contribute in the next matches.”
Jalal said, ” If any team win in the first match of a tournament, the confident level of the players of the winning team will go high. Saturday’s win was very important for us. We started with earning two points in the first match. I hope our players will do better in the next matches including the games, which will be held in West Indies.”
Yunus said, “If we can perform better we shall celebrate. Our target is to move into the second round.”
” The players were under pressure as we lost the series to the USA before the match against Sri Lanka. It seems to me good that the players took part in a full-fledged practice session for two days before Sri Lanka’s match. The confident level of our players was high. They were highly motivated. It was very necessary for our team as they were spirited and it influence our players in the field”, Jalal added.
Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed (Vice-Captain), Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Shoriful Islam and Tanvir Islam.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram (Captain), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeze Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs. Reserves: Nandre Burger and Lungi Ngidi.