Hunt or be haunted
When most of the Tiger's fans will wake up this morning and pick up this newspaper, their beloved team will have already played out half of their game against Scotland. Whether the fans will be left smiling or seething at the close of the first innings, it's safe to say that the Tigers' future in this World Cup will hinge on today's game at the Saxton Oval.
We would hope that Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's men, through either a dominant batting display or fierce bowling, will leave the fans happy at the conclusion of the first innings. This would ultimately guarantee two valuable points for the Tigers, giving them five points from four games, level with Australia.
However, if they fail to do so against a team they have never lost to in three ODI meetings, then they will be left with a task of monumental proportions of beating both England, in their penultimate group game, and New Zealand on March 13, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
The crucial game for the Tigers will however be against the struggling English in Adelaide on March 9.
England, with two points from four games so far, will need to beat both Bangladesh and then Afghanistan on March 13 to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Provided that Bangladesh do beat Scotland today, they will still need a result against either England or New Zealand to qualify, or hope that England stumble against Afghanistan in their last group game.
While the Afghans still have an outside chance of qualification, they face New Zealand in their next game, and a loss will see their campaign come to an end. However, they will still want to end on a high and the fourth place of Pool A could be decided by the Afghans on the last day when they face England, given England beat Bangladesh.
As is the case with mathematics, any deviation could cause all calculations to go out of the window, so Bangladesh should be hoping to secure qualification based on their own merit. It won't be easy, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the Tigers are capable of beating England to secure a quarterfinal berth, especially if they defeat Scotland by a large margin and have the momentum with them.
As half the nation is in a restful slumber, the other half -- the ardent fans-- will be up screaming at their TV sets and pulling at their hair, all we can hope is that the world hears the Tigers roar at least twice before the knockout stages.
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