Australia will take on Bangladesh in a must-win Group 1 Super 12 contest at the ICC T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday.
It needs to beat Bangladesh and then West Indies on November 6 to keep its qualification hopes alive. And even then, its fate will hinge on tournament favourite England beating South Africa on Saturday.
South Africa's dominant win over Bangladesh has made it a serious contender for a semifinal spot from Group 1, while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are now out of the race.
Bangladesh is at the bottom of the points table with four losses on the bounce. Shakib Al Hasan's hamstring injury — which ruled him out of the tournament — made matters worse. Against a potent South African pace attack in the last match, Bangladesh's batting came up short. The bowlers tried to make a fist of it with early wickets, but a target of 85 was never going to be enough.
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Meanwhile, Australia is grappling with problems of its own. Its poor Net Run Rate (-0.627) is an impediment. And against England, Glenn Maxwell batted at No. 4 after two quick wickets. In doing so, Australia exposed its best hitter to a raging England attack. Either Marcus Stoinis or Matthew Wade — who have negated the swing in the top-order earlier — could be promoted to take the sting out of the bowling. Mitchell Marsh, who was dropped for the clash with England to include Ashton Agar, could return against Bangladesh.
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Bangladesh could play Mustafizur Rahman in place of Nasum Ahmed. Taskin Ahmed bowled superbly for his 2 for 18 against South Africa.
Rangana Herath, Bangladesh spin-bowling coach, remains optimistic despite his team's poor run. "As a professional, we need to come back strongly. We have another game to go. We need to maintain that winning mindset and build winning confidence. We have to think about Bangladesh cricket's way forward," he said on Wednesday.
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