The joke among Bangladesh fans, particularly in the past eight years, is that their team schedules a series against Zimbabwe whenever they are out of form. But that overlooks the fact that it is the cricket boards – and not the teams themselves – that schedule series against each other. And in that respect, the BCB and ZC have been close friends for a very long time.
It has been quite the campaign for Zimbabwe – three wins in four completed matches – especially given how they have been missing World Cups since 2016. It’s almost like they’re making up for lost time.
Zimbabwe’s form is as good as their fighting spirit, and the way they defended the 130 against Pakistan was proof. Sure, they had a bit of luck go their way, but all good teams and individuals will tell you that luck comes with hard work, and the right intention.
And so, two old rivals meet for the first time in a T20 World Cup with the tables turned. Bangladesh are the chasing side now, feeling the heat from everywhere, especially from their fans. And Zimbabwe are the ones eyeing an unlikely tilt at a semi-final spot.
Zimbabwe WWLWW (Last five completed matches; most recent first)
Bangladesh LWLLL
Zimbabwe are unlikely to tinker with their playing XI.
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Wessley Madhevere, 2 Craig Ervine (capt), 3 Milton Shumba, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Regis Chakabva (wk), 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 3 Litton Das, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Afif Hossain, 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Hasan Mahmud
Teams batting first have won four out of the six T20Is in Brisbane, with 168 being the average first-innings score. No problems on the weather front on match day.
“I don’t think I need to tell you but we definitely have a plan. I think we respect Zimbabwe, they had an amazing performance against Pakistan. I watched every ball of it. The way they pulled it off against Pakistan was unbelievable. Full credit to them, full respect.”
Bangladesh technical consultant Sridharan Sriram, when asked how his side will stop Zimbabwe