Bangladesh will be the clear favourites for victory when they take on the Netherlands in the first match of the Group A qualifiers in Dharamshala on Wednesday but will take nothing for granted against the perennial puchers above their weight.
Mashrafe Mortaza’s men go into the game on the back of being runners-up in the Asia Cup on home soil and have enjoyed a remarkable 12 months of one-day cricket.
Instrumental to that success has been emerging fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman but he may well miss out as a precaution, the 20-year-old still feeling the effects of the side strain that brought a premature end to his Asia Cup exploits.
For Peter Borren and his Dutch charges they will be hoping to call upon their previous experiences of beating England and Ireland at the tournament in a bid to reach the Super 10 stage as they did in 2014.
And while they have made improvements on the field in recent months, the loss of their ODI status prior to the tournament in Bangladesh two years ago paints a pretty clear picture of the nation’s demise in recent years having once been one of the dominant forces in associate cricket.
WHAT THEY SAID
Mortaza: “We didn’t have much time to practice and adjust but I guess we will take much confidence from the Asia Cup final. India is similar but here (Dharamsala) there is difference. You need to adjust to the breathing in particular. It was cold last night and we have to play two matches in night. We will have to adjust and play at our best.”
Borren: “I think Bangladesh are clear favourites, which is not affecting us in terms of pressure. It is a good thing for us.”
LAST FOUR RESULTS
BAN
Bangladesh (120/5) lost to India (122/2) by 8 wickets
Pakistan (129/7) lost to Bangladesh (131/5) by 5 wickets
Bangladesh (147/7) beat Sri Lanka (124/8) by 23 runs
Bangladesh (133/8) beat UAE (82) by 51 runs
NED
Scotland (N/R)
Afghanistan (152-9) beat Netherlands (136/4) by 16 runs
Scotland (140/5) beat Netherlands 103 by 37 runs
Netherlands (157/5) beat UAE 73 by 84 runs
PREDICTION
Mustafizur will be a big miss but Bangladesh should have enough about them with or without their strike bowler. The Netherlands do have some big hitters and Roelof van der Merwe should star in these conditions but expect the Tigers to prove too much for their opposition and win comfortably.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar, Tamin Iqbal, Mohammad Mithum, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mashrafe Mortaza (c)
Netherlands: Stephen Myburgh, Wesley Barresi, Peter Borren (c), Ben Cooper, Tom Cooper, Michael Rippon, Roelof van der Merwe, Ahsan Malik, Pieter Seelar, Timm van der Gugten, Mudassar Bukhari