Bangladesh face an almost impossible task of qualifying for the semi-finals of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup when they face Afghanistan in their third and final Super Eight game in St Vincent on Tuesday morning.
The match will start at 6:30am Bangladesh Standard Time, and Nagorik TV will televise the tie live.
After suffering two successive defeats to Australia and India, Bangladesh鈥檚 hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals looked all but over, but an Afghanistan victory over Australia on Sunday has provided Bangladesh with a lifeline.
Still, there are many ifs and buts involved if Bangladesh have to reach the last four.
Firstly, Australia will have to lose to India by a huge margin, and the Tigers will have to beat Afghanistan by a handsome margin.
Only in that case Bangladesh could make to the semi-finals. If Australia beat India in a match that will be held on Monday night, then the Tigers will all but exit from the race even before taking on the Afghans.
鈥楾o be honest, I don鈥檛 think we have a chance to play in the semi-final anymore after today鈥檚 [Saturday鈥檚] loss. But having said that, the next game will be an opportunity for us to get a win on our belt before we finish up this tournament,鈥� Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said after the match against India.
鈥榃e鈥檇 love to finish this tournament on a high. We have to face Afghanistan, which is a very good side. So, we have to be at our best to be able to win against them.鈥�
Afghanistan have never won a match against Bangladesh in the World Cup, be it in 50-over or T20 over format.
In the T20 World Cup, however, the two teams met only once in 2014, and Bangladesh won that game by nine wickets after bowling Afghanistan out for just 72 runs.
Overall in T20 format, Afghanistan have the slight edge, winning six and losing five against Bangladesh in 11 meetings.
Afghanistan lost their first game to India by 47 runs but stunned Australia by 21 runs, defending 148-6.
The St Vincent wicket in which they beat Australia is also a lucky ground for Bangladesh, mainly for its slow-paced nature that gave the Tigers a home like condition out of home.
Afghanistan have the bowling attack to thrive in St Vincent pitch, which they demonstrated against Australia, but still Bangladesh would be favourite.
Bangladesh in fact play in this kind of wicket throughout the year at home, and so they will be further bolstered by the pitch.
In St Vincent, Bangladesh won against the Netherlands and Nepal to make it to the Super Eight stage.
However, they had to play their first two matches of Super Eight in Antigua, and as expected, they failed to show any skill on the true pitch.
They lost the first match to Australia by 28 runs on DLS Method before conceding a 50-run defeat to India on Saturday.
听
POINTS TABLE听 (Group 1 鈥� Super Eight)
TEAMS听 听 听 听 听 听 M听听听听听听听听听听听 W听听听听听听听听听听听 L听听听听听听听听听听听听听 T听听听听听听听听听听听听听 PT听听听听听听听听听听 NRR
India听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 4听听听听听听听听听听听听听 2.425
Australia听 听 听 听 听 听2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 1听听听听听听听听听听听听听 1听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0.223
Afghanistan听 听 听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 1听听听听听听听听听听听听听 1听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 -0.650
Bangladesh听 听 听 听2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 2听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 0听听听听听听听听听听听听听 -2.489
