Netherlands and Bangladesh find themselves in similar predicaments. Teams who came to the World Cup with contrasting ambitions, they have suffered resounding defeats in their recent matches.
Bangladesh, who made a promising start by convincingly defeating Afghanistan, have hit a rough patch, losing their last four games. Their hopes now rest on key players such as Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan, as they prepare to face the Dutch at Eden Gardens on Saturday (October 28). This is the first match at the iconic venue.
Netherlands should be eager to put behind the nightmarish performance against Australia and return to the positive style of cricket that highlighted their World Cup journey this time. Scott Edwards and his team were on a high after beating South Africa, before Glenn Maxwell brought them back to earth.
For Netherlands, Logan van Beek is expected to once again play a big role, given his recent bowling form. Edwards the captain has led strategically throughout and would be hoping that they could get another win under their belt. There is firepower in their line-up. What they need is a collective effort.
Mahmudullah has been a standout performer for Bangladesh, contributing 28% of their total runs. The Eden Gardens pitch is expected to provide bounce and facilitate stroke play. It should be something that the other Bangladesh batters enjoy.
Batting has been a worry for Bangladesh. Sometimes they got good starts and on occasions they did not. Regardless of that, the middle-order came under pressure. They know these conditions better than the Dutch and should do better at Eden Gardens. They will also have some crowd support.
Both teams, with slim chances of making it to the top four, will play for pride and glory. This game promises to be an exciting contest because the teams are hungry for a victory.
Time and Venue Details
October 28. From 14:00 IST. Eden Gardens. Kolkata.
Expected Conditions
A good pitch to bat on and score runs. Weather a little bit of a concern though.
Possible XIs
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (c/wk), Saqib Zulfiqar, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam.
Match-ups
Logan van Beek vs Mahmudullah: Logan van Beek picked up four wickets against Australia. Mahmudullah was the only stand-out batter for Bangladesh against South Africa scoring a century. It will be an exciting battle to watch.
Team Speaks
A lot of our boys are looking forward to the atmosphere at Eden Gardens when we take on Bangladesh. We love playing in front of a big crowd and we look forward to putting up a good performance.
Scott Edwards, Netherlands captain
Our semi-final goal is not finished yet as we still have four more games to go. We have not played well enough in batting and bowling. However, we want to take it match by match from here on and take it from there.
Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh