Match 21 of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will witness the South African cricket team going one-on-one against the Bangladesh team at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday from 8:00 PM onwards.
The two teams form a part of Group D in the league round alongside the Netherlands, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and they have enjoyed a similar fate in the tournament so far. South Africa is at the top of the points table with two points to their name from one victory. The team came up with an excellent bowling display in their first match.
Speaking of Bangladesh, they are also unbeatable in the league round and have two points from one game. However, the Tigers are languishing at third place in the points table because of a low net run rate.
What has happened so far?
The South African team came into the T20 tournament with dampened spirits as they lost their three-match T20I series against West Indies last month by 0-3. However, they were quick to make amends in their first T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka.
Aiden Markram’s men put up a dominating performance with the bat as Sri Lanka were restricted to a paltry score of 77 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Despite the low score, it wasn’t an easy journey for the Proteas in the second innings as they lost four wickets.
However, with Quinton de Kock and Markram scoring 20 and 19 runs respectively, the team managed to chase the total within 16.2 overs.
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, they faced India in their only warm-up match ahead of the league round. It was a forgettable outing for the Tigers as they ended up scoring only 122 runs while chasing a good score of 182 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
However, the team didn’t continue the poor performance and defeated Sri Lanka in their first T20 World Cup league match by two wickets. Mustafizur Rahman and Rishad Hossain picked two wickets each as Sri Lanka scored only 124 runs while Towhid Hriday and Litton Das dominated with the bat to take Bangladesh home in 19 overs in the second innings.
Head to Head Record
The Proteas enjoy a one-sided domination over the Bangladesh cricket team in the shortest format of the game. The two sides have played a total of eight T20 Internationals against each other and South Africa has scored a victory in all eight fixtures.
Bangladesh will be hoping to end the losing streak on Monday and open their account against the Proteas in the T20Is.
Key Players
Litton Das (Bangladesh): The wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das is the most experienced player in Bangladesh’s batting line-up with 1841 runs to his name in 83 T20 Internationals at an average of 23.3 and a strike rate of over 127. He looked in good rhythm during the team’s first league match against Sri Lanka with a knock of 36 runs off 38 balls.
The batter is expected to continue the momentum on Monday and deliver another top performance to help his team climb to the top of the Group D points tally and increase their chances of qualifying for the Super 8 round.
Anrich Nortje was the top performer for South Africa against Bangladesh
Anrich Nortje (South Africa): Anrich Nortje took home the Player of the Match award as South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in their first match of the 2024 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup to start the tournament on a winning note.
The ace seamer picked four wickets in the form of Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka, and Angelo Mathews while conceding only 7 runs in his four overs at an economy rate of 1.8.
Nortje has a lot of international experience under his belt and he also came after a decent performance for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. Thus, Nortje is expected to step up again on Monday and churn out a dominating performance.
Predicted XIs
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram ©, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto ©, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Prediction
Both South Africa and Bangladesh will be coming into the Monday game high on confidence as they defeated Sri Lanka in their first ICC T20 World Cup 2024 match by six wickets and two wickets respectively.
However, the odds are in favor of the Proteas’ scoring a win on Monday and continuing their domination at the top of the Group D points table. South Africa will have a psychological edge over the Tigers as they are yet to lose a T20I against the Bangladeshi team.