Bangladesh vs England, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Match 33 Preview: ENG fight for survival, BAN for dominance!

There’s lot of excitement (read: pressure) in the air and it will interesting to see if Eoin Morgan-led England side stays in the tourney, or Mashrafe Mortaza-led Bangaldesh team wins the match!

Eoin Morgan-led England side is on the brink of an early ouster of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. The English side have so far played four games in Pool A of the ICC tourney. Of the four matches, England has lost three matches and managed to win one match only. On the other side, the Bangladesh team has managed to win two of their four matches in the group and are placed above England, courtesy a point from wash out against Australia, in Pool A.

For Bangladesh, the side won their first match against Afghanistan comprehensively. Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by 105 runs at Canberra where Shakib Al-Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim steadied their sinking ship and saw the side home. The second match against Australia got abandoned due to due to rain, as both team shared their points. In their third match against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh lost the game by 92 runs. Not only the bowlers failed to contain Sri Lankan side, but the batsmen too failed to put up a fight. However, in their fourth match against Scotland, Bangladesh did well to secure a victory against the Scottish side as they won the match by chasing down 319 runs.

England had a disastrous start to their campaign, as they lost their opening match at 2015 World Cup against Australia by 111 runs. If the beating by the hands of Aussies wasn’t enough for the Poms, the Southee-storm took them to cleaners in their next match against New Zealand. The side suffered a shameful defeat by the Kiwis as they stormed to victory by winning the match by 8 wickets. England won their only match against Scotland in which they defeated their United Kingdom counterparts by 119 runs. There was some hope of a turnaround from there, but all hopes were dashed by Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Thirimanne who scored his maiden World Cup hundred to see the Lankan Lions home.

In tomorrow’s clash at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia both England and Bangladesh will have to re-group themselves and ensure that their chances for quarter-finals stays alive. Bangladesh got lucky as their match against Australia was washed out and they managed to draw half points from the game. Also Read- ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Schedule in IST: Time Table, Fixture & Venue Details of all WC 2015 Matches.

The spearhead of England bowling- James Anderson and Stuart Broad, need to fire if the Poms have to sail through the Pool A. The batting line-up hasn’t have lived up to its mark with only Moeen Ali and Joe Root being the centurions in the line-up. Only two other batsmen have scored a half-century for England, and the bowling side too have lacked the firepower, it boasted of.

The Bangladesh side will have to rely on their spin department to bamboozle the English side. Another factor to look after will be the Bangladesh’s batting which should deliver in batting-friendly conditions at Adelaide.

It will be cracker of a game between with both the sides fighting for their survival. The Bangladesh side will look to consolidate its position in the Group A of ICC World Cup 2015, but as far as England is concerned, it will be a do-or-die situation for the side.

Looking back in the past, the Bangladesh side defeated England in ICC World Cup 2011 encounter. If past record and present form is anything to go by, the England team will have their work cut out to emerge on top on March 09.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Masrafe Bin Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mominul Hoque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Shabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Arafat Sunny, Shafiul Islam.

England: Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan (c), Joe Root, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes

Will English survive an early exit or the Bangladesh side will repeat their historic feat of 2011 World Cup. There’s lot of excitement (read: pressure) in the air and it will interesting to see if Eoin Morgan-led England side stays in the tourney, or Mashrafe Mortaza-led Bangaldesh team wins the match! Also Read- ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Schedule: Complete Fixtures & Time Table of all Cricket World Cup 2015 Matches.

Catch this space for extensive coverage and ball-by-ball commentary of England vs Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia on March 9.