Bangladesh face Oman in must win clash

Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim plays a shot during the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between Bangladesh and Scotland at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Muscat on 17 October 2021AFP

After a shocking defeat in their T20 World Cup opener, Bangladesh are now gearing up for a crucial clash against Oman. The match will take place on Tuesday afternoon at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground, reports UNB.

The match is scheduled to start at 8:00pm Bangladesh time.

In their first match, Bangladesh suffered a six-run defeat to Scotland. It came as a shock to the Tigers.

Winning the toss, Bangladesh invited Scotland to bat first, who were at one stage 53 for the loss of six wickets. From there, the Scots scored a fighting 140 for nine wickets. All-rounder Chris Greaves was the architect of the turnaround. He hit a blazing 45 off 28 balls.

Bangladesh managed to score 134 for seven wickets with Mushfiqur Rahim being the top scorer with 38 off 36 balls.

After first match, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad blamed the batters who failed to score runs when it was needed most to chase down a moderate target of 141.

Bangladesh had scored only 29 runs for two wickets in the powerplay, which later proved to be the main reason behind Bangladesh’s defeat.

The Tiger think tank likely to bring some changes in the playing XI in the match against Oman. Skipper Mahmudullah hinted this in the post-match press conference on Sunday.

Mohammad Naim, who had been playing well as an opener, was dropped in the first match. He might be included in the team in the second match replacing either Liton Das or Soumya Sarkar.

Bangladesh might bring some more changes giving a chance to Nasum Ahmed or Shamim Hossain replacing Afif Hossain.

Oman have won their first match against Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets in the World Cup opener.

Bangladesh’s path to the Super 12 has become complex for their defeat to Scotland.

Bangladesh now have to win against Oman to keep the way to the Super 12 open. If the Tigers lose against Oman, and if Scotland beat Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh will be eliminated from Round 1.

If Bangladesh beat Oman and Papua New Guinea in their last two matches of Round 1, and Oman and Scotland beat Papua New Guinea, in that case Bangladesh will have to depend on their run rate as the points of the three teams will be the same.