SA v BAN, 1st T20I Preview: One final shot at the dice for Tigers to leave a mark in South Africa

In an attempt to salvage some pride after what happened in the ODI series, Bangladesh takes on South Africa in the shortest format. This was one of the few occasions when Bangladesh cricket unit traveled outside for a bilateral tour and this will go down as arguably their worst performance. For a side who are aiming to prove they’re as good as anyone in the world, this is not an ideal result.

Nevertheless, the T20 format is a different ball game and they have some big players like Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah, who performed spectacularly well in T20s for a long time. Their bowling department managed to pick up just 12 wickets in all three games in the ODI series, opposed to 30 picked by the Proteas. They are leaking too many runs and their inexperience is clearly showing.

South Africa on the other side, will be playing without their skipper Faf du Plessis. JP Duminy is likely to take up the captaincy and David Miller’s presence is not confirmed as yet. If Miller won’t play, Mangaliso Mosehle will be making his International debut for the Safaris. Robbie Frylink, Beuran Hendricks, and Tabraiz Shamsi are back in the squad as the management decided to rest Rabada.

Toss: South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first

Playing XI:

SA XI: Q de Kock, H Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, D Miller, F Behardien, A Phehlukwayo, R Frylinck, A Phangiso, D Paterson, B Hendricks

BAN XI: I Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, S Rahman, S Al Hasan, M Rahim, Mahmudullah, M Hasan, R Hossain, S Islam, M Saifuddin, T Ahmed

Focus will be on

AB de Villiers (South Africa)

For all those who doubted the legend of ABD, the second ODI at the Boland Park was a tight slap. AB de Villiers remained a peripheral part of the unit for a long period of time, yet, he came up with a mind-boggling 176 off 104 balls to announce his comeback. He loves playing this format and over the years, he is success rate for Royal Challengers or any other T20 team has been outstanding. The Bangla bowlers would be praying for him to not be in great touch on Thursday.

Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)

Not many take notice, but Mahmudullah’s contribution in Bangladesh’s meteoric rise over the years has been splendid. The all-rounder is quite an influential presence in the middle-order and played some gems coming in at number 5 and 6. He often plays as a floater as his batting position keeps shuffling according to the situation. But he always reciprocates positively and contributes as much as he can for the side.

Playing combinations

South Africa

Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla will be the partners in crime who will embark the innings. The swashbuckling De Villiers will be coming in at number 3, with skipper JP Duminy at four. They have some decent strikers like David Miller or Mangaliso Mosehle, Andile Phehlukwayo and Robbie Frylinck up next.

Dane Paterson will be leading the line and sharing the new ball with him will be Beuran Hendricks. Robbie Frylinck and Andile Phehlukwayo will be their other fast bowling options and the chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi has been roped in to bamboozle the batsmen.

Bangladesh

Imrul Kayes will be opening the innings as Tamim is not available. Accompanying him would be Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman will be batting at number 3. With the likes of  Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, and Nasir Hossain sharing the middle order duties, there’s no reason to be doubting their talent to score big.

Bowling department has been their main concern. Mohammad Saifuddin, Shafiul Islam, and Rubel Hossain are the three frontline fast bowlers available right now and they will have to pick up some early wickets to thwart them from scoring big. Mehidy Hasan, Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah are the spinning options available for Shakib.

StatAttack

2 – This is the second T20I game being played at this venue.

4 – Bangladesh played the Proteas four times in T20Is and are yet to win a game against them.