Tigers' chance to keep the dream alive

When Bangladesh won a point against Australia in that abandoned game at The Oval on June 5, something they did not deserve, it gave them not only a lifeline to stay afloat in the Champions Trophy but turned their last group fixture against New Zealand from a dead rubber to a potential quarterfinal.

Fate may yet conspire against them even if Bangladesh win the game against the Black Caps at Cardiff's Sophia Gardens today, but for at least 24 hours it will brighten the dream of something big. If England fail to beat Australia tomorrow, then Australia and England will go through from Group A.

However, to keep that dream alive Bangladesh are perhaps in the best place and playing a team they feel most confident of beating in their group. When they take the field in the rectangular-shaped ground at 10.30am 93:30pm Bangladesh time) the Tigers will mark their return to a place where they created a small piece of history 12 years ago -- a magnificent win against the mighty Australians on June 18, 2005.

Going into the game there are a few things they can dictate -- they will have to play good hard cricket as a unit. But to start with they need a combination which was stable for quite some time and brought them success over the last two years. In the last two games the team management tried to do too many things and it did not work for them. They played with eight batsmen against England and desperately felt the need of a bowler while defending a total of 305.

Against Australia they fielded four genuine bowlers but a shuffle in the batting order did not work. It also showed a lack of self-belief. The introduction of Imrul Kayes at number three has so far proved a waste. It also made a mockery of the concept that your best batsman occupies that important slot. But Bangladesh filled that void with the nearly-man fearing Sabbir Rahman might not click against a quality seam bowling attack. The biggest problem for Bangladesh has so far been their lower order. It is so fragile that the pacers in the team cannot even put together 10 runs -- Bangladesh could score only one run for the loss of their last four wickets against Australia. The job of the bowlers is to take wickets but the way they bat makes it seem like they hardly do some much-needed batting practice in the nets.

There are a few things out of their control and most importantly the fickle England weather. This is a game during which Bangladesh will pray that rain stays away. The weather forecast at the moment is not bad for a game to have a result. A brief spell of rain might delay the start but Friday promises a full-length game with cloud dominating the sun over Cardiff.

The Tigers should also be wary of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who is in the best of form. He actually played the key role in a series sweep when Bangladesh toured New Zealand at the turn of the year. The sublime right-hand batsman has already scored a century against Australia and hit 80-odd in the next game against England, which his team lost.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is also in the best of form and has done something more spectacular than Williamson. The left-hander hit a majestic 128 against England and followed it up with a sumptuous 95 against Australia.

The loyal Bangladesh fans, who are set to dominate the Sophia Gardens audience after painting The Oval green against Australia, will want Tamim to carry on with the bat and more importantly pray his contribution counts toward a win.