B’desh face first big test in U-19 World Cup

QUEENSTOWN: Having registered comfortable wins against Namibia and Canada, Bangladesh’s first big test in the Under 19 World Cup will be against a confident England side, who opened their account with a win against Namibia in their first game.

Bangladesh are sitting pretty atop the Group B table and a victory would guarantee them a spot in the next round. Meanwhile, a win for England would take them to the top of the table and further strengthen their bid to qualify for the quarterfinal stage. Bangladesh’s top order has been in good touch, with four among them having registered fifty-plus scores.

Pinak Ghosh is the only one in the top five due for a big score and Bangladesh will be hoping that he too gets among the runs and help Bangladesh enter the knockouts with an all-firing top order. The bowlers too have been doing their jobs on a consistent basis, with the likes of Hasan Mahmud, Qazi Onik and Afif Hossain having picked up the bulk of the wickets.

For England, skipper Harry Brook and Will Jacks continued their form from the warm-up game against Ireland when they notched up brisk three-figure scores, and made light work of a 198-run chase against Namibia. This was after Tom Scriven and Luke Hollman, who had also extended their good form, led a clinical bowling performance with the captain also chipping in with wickets. With all bases covered and a team brimming with talented players, England will be hoping to make it two in two and put and end to Bangladesh’s winning run.

Teams: Bangladesh (probables): Pinak Ghosh, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan(c), Afif Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Aminul Islam, Mohammad Rakib, Mahidul Islam Ankon(w), Shakil Hossain, Robiul Hoque, Nayeem Hasan, Qazi Onik, Roni Hossen, Hasan Mahmud, Tipu Sultan

England (probables): Euan Woods, Harry Brook(c), Ethan Bamber, Liam Banks, Tom Banton(w), Jack Davies, Adam Finch, Luke Hollman, Will Jacks, Dillon Pennington, Savin Perera, Prem Sisodiya, Tom Scriven, Finlay Trenouth, Roman Walker. While Bangladesh and England have been going great guns, Canada and Namibia find themselves at the wrong end of the table following their losses. The outcome of this game may well determine who among the two avoid the wooden spoon, considering the strength of the other two teams. But for now, the order of business for both Namibia and Canada will be to secure their first win in order to keep their hopes alive. Otherwise Canada will be hoping to do a better job against the struggling Namibia team and keep the other teams on their toes.

Teams: Namibia (probables): Jurgen Linde, Lohandre Louwrens (w/c), Shaun Fouche, Eben van Wyk, Erich van Mollendorf, Loftie-Eaton, Petrus Burger, Gerhard Lottering, Mauritius Ngupita, Ben Shikongo, Dewald Nell, Henry Brink, Jan de Villiers, Henry Olivier, Floris Steenkamp, Ramon Wilmot, Donovan Zealand, Mitchell Hay

Canada (probables): Arslan Khan (c), Akash Gill, Ashtan Deosammy, Arshdeep Dhaliwal, Faisal Jamkhandi, Krishen Denarkshn Samuel(w), Rishiv Ragav Joshi, Emanuel David Khokhar, Kavian Naress, Aran Pathmanathan, Pieter Christiaan Pretorius, Randhir Sandhu, Pranav Sharma, Rommel Shahzad, Kevin Singh.