How can Bangladesh proceed to the next round?
Samin Zarif | Monday, 18 October 2021
Bangladesh started off their T20 World Cup campaign with a six runs defeat against Scotland.
Although no one expected this upset last night, the Scottish men were undoubtedly the more dominant side out of the two which had them the game.
Before the start of the tournament, Bangladesh were considered to become the group champions and proceed to the Super 12s. However, now with a defeat in the very first game, the equation stands different.
The Tigers need to win their next two games against Oman and Papua New Guinea to stay alive in the tournament.
That being said, it won't be easy considering both Oman and Scotland won their first matches, and Oman's victory was rather convincing. A 10 wicket win against Papua New Guinea, that too by keeping 38 balls in hand, made them the table toppers with an astounding net run rate of +3.1.
If Oman goes on to lose against Bangladesh in their next match, and Scotland loses against Oman, then two out of these three teams will have a fair chance to make it to the next round.
In that case, the net run rate will be taken into account, which will unsurprisingly favour Oman to proceed as the group champions.
On the other hand, Bangladesh will need to win against Oman and Papua New Guinea by a good enough margin, as they are already lacking with a -0.3 net run rate, whereas Scotland after winning their first encounter, are second in the table with a net run rate of +0.3.
If the Tigers are to overtake Scotland, they need to play a more than a decent game against the two other teams of the group.
Nevertheless, it will be much easier for Bangladesh, if Scotland win their next two or lose both. That will either make them the group champions paving Oman's way out of the tournament, or help both Oman and Bangladesh to qualify for the next round, providing Bangladesh win in their next two outings of round 1.
According to a new rule set by the International Cricket Council (ICC), even if Bangladesh emerges as the runner up of Group B, due to their ranking, they will be enlisted in Group 2 in the Super 12s.
Hence, it will be interesting to see how Bangladesh shapes up for the next two games, which in the current context, are expected to be tough battles.