Tigers in search of intent against buoyant Afghans

Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan in their last Super Eight fixture of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup on Tuesday at the Arnos Vale Ground in St. Vincent, hoping to salvage pride following dismal outings against Australia and India respectively which has left their semifinal hopes hanging by a thread.

Afghanistan have beaten Australia handsomely at Arnos Vale Ground, a win that would surely see them enter the contest against the Tigers as favourites in terms of form.

The Tigers, meanwhile, would be hoping that their unbeaten run in ICC events against Afghanistan, which currently stands at four, would help them thwart the Afghans once again under the bright lights.

In St. Vincent, Afghanistan's openers set the plot for the win as they kept Australia on a tight leash throughout the game and sealed a convincing win. Now, if the Australia-India game goes in India's favour, Afghanistan can make the semis by beating Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, go in to the game, still in search of impetus to take the game by the scruff of the neck in key match situations.

First and foremost, the Powerplay effort with the bat has been grim. Against India on Saturday, Bangladesh managed just 42 for 1 in chase of 197, which forced them to play catch up for the rest of the way.

With batters out of form and no one settled in well enough to score runs on a good batting surface, Bangladesh could not make a game of it.

Barring the skill gap, the lack of intent has been Bangladesh's problem in games against big sides, which was glaringly evident against India On Saturday.

Such was the brunt of the defeat, that Shakib Al Hasan, one of the team's most experienced players, gave up any hopes of making it to semifinals, even though after Afghanistan's win over Australia yesterday, the Tigers have a route to the semis, no matter how unlikely it seems at the moment.

"To be honest, I don't think we have a chance to play the semifinal anymore after today's [Saturday] loss," Shakib said after the defeat against India.

"But having said that, the next game will be an opportunity for us to get a win under our belt before we finish up this tournament. We'd love to finish this tournament on a high.

"We have to face Afghanistan which is a very good side. So, we have to be at our best to be able to win against them," he added.

With Afghanistan flying high, finding themselves at ease in conditions in St. Vincent, Bangladesh will have to bring their A game to even be competitive.

The wicket is unlikely to be very batting friendly and Bangladesh found that out for themselves during their game against Nepal in the venue, where they were unable to even play the full 20 overs.

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While Bangladesh have been unable to show signs of improvement against big sides, Afghanistan excelled in that challenge and conjured up a win against Australia which will be remembered for a long time.

"It's not just like a bilateral game. It's a World Cup game, and definitely in a World Cup, you're beating a best side. It's a great achievement," an overjoyed Rashid Khan said after leading his side to win over Australia.

Even though Bangladesh will have a mathematical chance of making it to the semis if India beat Australia today, the only realistic target for the Tigers would be a better showing against Afghanistan and try to end with a win. Anything past that will be the very definition of bonus gains.