‘An important chance to adjust’

Bangladesh will take on South Africa in their fifth World Cup fixture at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai today. 

The match will start from 2.30pm.

The following is a statbox on Bangladesh-South Africa encounter:
 
***South Africa hold a significant advantage in matches won against Bangladesh as they have 18 wins to the Tigers' six in 24 meetings.

***In World Cups however, the two sides are at an even 2-2 tie, with Bangladesh handing out the latest blow with a 21-run win in the 2019 edition of the tournament. The Tigers' other win over the Proteas in the tournament came in 2007.

***Bangladesh have lost the only match they've played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, while South Africa have won two and lost three in five outings at the venue.

***Shakib Al Hasan has featured the most number of times in Bangladesh-South Africa encounters, having played in 17 of the 24 matches.

***Amongst active players, Shaib has taken the most wickets against South Africa with 16 scalps at an economy rate of 4.66, while South Africa's Kagiso Rabada tops the charts in Bangladesh-South Africa contests with 19 in 10 matches.

***Shakib also has scored the most runs by a Bangladesh batter against the Proteas as he has amassed 492 runs including five fifties, while South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's 428 runs at a strike-rate of 103.63 against the Tigers stands as the highest amongst active players for the Proteas.

***Najmul Hossain Shanto is 18 runs away from reaching 1000 runs in ODIs.

***Mehedi Hasan Miraz is four wickets short of scalping 100 wickets in the format.
 

Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur was upset by the lack of their fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday but would not blame the team's comprehensive defeat by India on the absence of support from the stands.

The late unveiling of the tournament's schedule had already made it difficult for fans from abroad to plan their tour of India for the 13th edition of the showpiece event.

Soured political relations between the Asian neighbours has further complicated the issue and the Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) to sort out visa delays for their fans and media travelling to India.

Almost an entirely Indian crowd of 100,000-plus fans turned the entire stadium into a sea of blue jerseys and Arthur felt the tournament, hosted by the Indian board (BCCI), lacked the flavour of a global event.

"It didn't seem like an ICC event to be brutally honest," the former Australia coach said after Pakistan's seven-wicket loss.
"It seemed like a bilateral series, it seemed like a BCCI event.

"I didn't hear 'Dil Dil Pakistan' coming through the microphones too often tonight," he said, referring to the unofficial anthem for the country.

"So yes, that does play a role, but I'm not going to use that as an excuse because for us it was about living the moment, it was about the next ball and it was about how we were going to combat the Indian players tonight."

Only half a dozen Pakistani journalists arrived on the eve of the match and the ICC said they were trying to sort out the visa issues.

Asked if it was right for a World Cup, Arthur said: "Look, I don't think I can comment on that just yet. I don't want to get fined."

Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana was Friday backed by coach Chris Silverwood to be the "X Factor" at the World Cup.

The 20-year-old, dubbed "Baby Malinga" for his copycat style of compatriot Lasith Malinga's unorthodox action, has only played 10 ODIs and one T20 but is tipped to be amongst the tournament's breakout stars.

His first chance to impress will come on Saturday when 1996 champions Sri Lanka take on South Africa in New Delhi in their World Cup opener.

"To get away from the orthodox bowling action, to see someone like Pathirana, for me it was, okay, how do I work with this guy?" said Silverwood.

"I find myself listening to him a lot because I'm not going to tinker with his action. It's his own, it's his, and it works for him.

"For me, it's about teaching him how to bowl now in ODI cricket. The last thing I want to do is take the X Factor away from him and that's what he's got."

Pathirana made an impact on MS Dhoni when he played alongside the former India captain for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

Dhoni even suggested that Pathirana should steer clear of Tests and red-ball cricket to focus primarily on short-format T20.

Dhoni also said that even the youngster's ODI commitments should be limited.

However, Silverwood insisted Sri Lankan cricket would be worse off if Pathirana chose those options.

"I think it would be wrong for us not to have him out there and not let Sri Lankan people see what their young talented cricketers can do out on the cricket field," said the former England fast bowler.

"I get very excited about the young talent coming through, they go out there, spread their wings and fly. And let's see what they can achieve."

There are questions over the future of ODI cricket and even the relevance of the World Cup.

In Thursday's tournament opener between defending champions England and New Zealand at the cavernous 132,000-seater stadium in Ahmedabad, fans trickled in.

Officials claimed there were 40,000 people in the ground in the later stages although many present insisted that figure was optimistic.

"T20 is here to stay and it's a beast of its own now and I don't think you can do anything about that," added Silverwood.

"It's attractive, it's got all the razzmatazz, especially when you look at the IPL and the glamour that goes around that and equally the money that's available for the players.

"But if we and all the teams here can put on a good show and show that this format of a game is great as well, I think it will go a long way to promoting it."
 

Dutch all-rounder Bas de Leede believes New Zealand seamers Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson will pose the same dangers as Pakistan's vaunted pace duo Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf when they meet in the World Cup on Monday.

The Netherlands slipped to an 81-run defeat to Pakistan in their championship opener on Friday with Shaheen, Rauf and Hasan Ali claiming six wickets between them.

Now the Dutch, the only second-tier Associate team at the 10-nation World Cup, must bounce back against the Kiwis who started their campaign with a thumping nine-wicket rout of champions England on Thursday.

"There's Trent Boult, who is similar to Shaheen probably. Lockie Ferguson probably similar to Haris Rauf," said De Leede.

"So, a lot of similarities. We'll take our learnings from this game and then try and adapt for the next game."

The Dutch were well-placed to chase down a target of 287 to win on Friday when they stood at 120-2 in the 24th over with De Leede (67) and Vikramjit Singh (52) together.

However, they lost three quick wickets for the addition of just 13 runs and never recovered before being bowled out for 205.

Pakistan had earlier been indebted to innings of 68 each from Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan.

"I think it was those wickets that were our downfall," said 23-year-old De Leede.

"We lost Vikram, then Teja (Nidamanuru), then lost Scott Edwards in quite a quick couple of overs, which put us on the back foot.

"It's tough to then go on and put up another partnership and try and win the game."

De Leede was the star for his team with the ball as well, taking 4-62.

He said he sought out tips on how to bat on slow, spinning tracks of India.

"I spoke to a couple of people who have experience here and asked them what they think overseas batters needed to do to succeed against spin in India," said De Leede.