Difficult batting wicket gives Bangladesh confidence of fighting equally

The wicket and conditions at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has been under focus due to uneven bounce and below-par outfield. The India-Pakistan match yesterday turned out to be a low-scoring affair which India won by just six runs.

For Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, the lack of runs at the venue meant that both Bangladesh and South Africa have equal chances, going into the game on Monday.

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Quite a few Bangladesh batters are still searching for runs and the Tigers had a difficult time chasing down Sri Lanka's 124 in their opening World Cup fixture, eventually clinching the game by two wickets.

"I mean the pitch has been difficult for batting. That's what we're seeing most of the games, like every game that we played here. It was not that easy for batters when we also played here. So that brings both teams equally into the game. We know South Africa has a decent bowling attack as well, but we're still confident that we can give a good fight for South Africa on that surface," Hathurusingha said in the press conference on Sunday.

Proteas possess big hitters in their ranks and a high-scoring game could see them take the game out of Bangladesh's hand. 

On the other hand, Bangladesh bowlers put in a determined performance against Sri Lanka and the bowling unit would be Bangladesh's greatest strength against South Africa.
The toss can become a big factor in such surfaces but Chandika reflected that going into a game, a team will have a fifty-fifty opportunity of winning the toss and not something they can work on.

"It [toss] can be [a factor]. Next game, yes, because of the pitch. But then toss is 50-50," he said.

While there is a notion that wickets with variable bounce can aid Mustafizur Rahman, who bagged three for 17 in a terrific display, Hathurusingha pointed out it was not suitability to the wickets which brought success to Bangladesh bowlers.

"It's not about suitability. I think he's [Mustafizur] bowling really well. He's so confident about his plans. If you notice that lately, he's bowling with different angles for setting his own field.

The way the bowling unit has taken the ownership of their execution, as well as their plans with the captain, was very impressive. My coaching staff is doing a good job giving them all the information, but they are the ones who are making most of the decisions in the middle. So that is pleasing to see," he said.

However, the Bangladesh head coach reminded that more was expected from the top-order. Bangladesh batters have often struggled in the shortest format and Hathurusingha acknowledged that rather than technical issues, the challenge was to get some confidence.

"Expecting better performance, for sure, because two-three games ago, we had a 100-run partnership. And to be honest, lately, we've been inconsistent. I think it's a lack of confidence and it's a difficult format to take time and get into form or take your time because you have to get go from the start. Confidence plays a big part in T20 cricket. Some of the batters lack runs. Not that they have any technical problem or anything because they train well. They're looking good in training, but it's lack of confidence and lack of runs. So, the good thing is Liton [Das] spent time in the middle and scored runs according to the conditions. He batted really well, that was a positive. And of course, we are expecting more from them in the next few games," he concluded.