Can wounded Tigers upset the England Lions?
The match will be held at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi where the surface was really sluggish in the previous match and Australia chased down 119 in the last over.
Bangladesh and England have met each other multiple times in Tests and ODIs since the inception of T20Is but they, as surprising as it may seem, have never faced off in the shortest format. England, of course, were one of the strongest contenders coming into the tournament and they couldn't have asked for a better start to their World Cup campaign.
Eoin Morgan's men annihilated defending champions West Indies in the opening day of the tournament proper. On the contrary, Bangladesh were beaten convincingly in the end by Sri Lanka on Sunday and they will have their work cut out against a confident England side on Wednesday.
The match will be held at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi where the surface was really sluggish in the previous match and Australia chased down 119 in the last over. If it plays the same in this match, then the spinners of both sides will enjoy bowling here. Also, pacers bowling slow and into the wicket got good purchase. England spinners- Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali- are in fine form, having shared six wickets among themselves in the previous match. Rashid has a superb record against Bangladesh in ODIs and given Bangladesh's weakness against wrist spin, he will be the go-to man for the England captain.
Bangladesh doing well in the second half of the innings
Bangladesh's performance with the bat has been encouraging in the last few matches especially through the middle phase and slog overs. The strategy of keeping wickets in hand for the final few overs seemed to have worked for them. Bangladesh scored 90, 110 and 99 in the final 10 overs against Oman, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka respectively and their average run rate in the slog overs in the tournament is 10.93.
However, Bangladesh have to be slightly more expressive in the powerplay as scoring runs might be difficult as the ball gets older in Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh might very well change the opening combination of Mohammad Naim and Liton Das against England as Liton Das has constantly failed to deliver the goods. Bangladesh have to remember that they have faced the lesser sides in the competition so far and they will be challenged in the upcoming matches by some good bowling attacks.
Not sustaining the pressure an alarming sign
Bangladesh, after an electric start from Sri Lanka, fought back with three quick wickets. But they couldn't maintain the pressure and let the new batter settle down. That wasn't the first time Bangladesh couldn't sustain the momentum after a fantastic start with the ball. Against Scotland, Bangladesh let them score 140 after restricting them to 53 for six. Against Papua New Guinea too, Bangladesh couldn't restrict them under 100 despite picking up seven wickets when their score was just 23.
Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah had two part-timers bowling when that partnership between Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa was still young instead of going to his premier bowlers. It was a tactical decision that failed really badly. Bangladesh have to ensure they capitalise on good starts against the sides they will be playing next.
Will England's batting line-up be too strong for Bangladesh?
England have been the most high-scoring side since the 2016 T20 World Cup. Their average run rate during this period is 8.78 which is the highest among teams participating in the tournament. England, in their batting line-up, have several dynamic players. In Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali, they have two of the best hitters against spin currently. The opening pair of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy will be absolutely deadly if not broken early. Apart from Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan, all the England batters are in pretty decent form. But what might work in favour of Bangladesh is that these batters hardly faced the Bangladeshi bowlers and they might take some time to figure out what's happening.
"We know that England has a very powerful batting line-up. We have to be on our A-game if we want to challenge them and ultimately win the game. We spoke about it last night in our team meetings. We have got an opportunity today at practice to do some of the things that was discussed in the meeting, in terms of our delivery. The key is to be accurate with what we deliver and back ourselves. We know they will come out hard, but they also give you chances. They lost four wickets chasing 55 against the West Indies. It is something that we can use as a positive. We must be at our best, but we know that they will give us opportunities to take wickets," said Bangladesh fast bowling coach Otis Gibson.
Death bowling a concern for England
England have been missing the services of Jofra Archer in this tournament. Archer has been a fantastic bowler for England and the teams he's played for in franchise leagues especially in the powerplay and at the death. But Archer missing out in the World Cup has left England worrying because of the lack of a good death bowler. Since 2019, England's economy rate at the death (9.97) is the second-worst among teams playing in the tournament. David Willey and Chris Woakes are powerplay specialists. Mark Wood doesn't have a fine record in this phase. England's designated death bowler Chris Jordan also doesn't have an encouraging record at the death. Tymal Mills, who has made a comeback to the English side, might well be the answer to this question. He has a superb economy rate of 7.41 in this particular phase of the innings and Bangladesh must be wary of his box of tricks.
The match will begin at 2 pm local time (4 pm BDST) on Wednesday.