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| March 25, 2007 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1428 |
Bangladesh on verge of making history
PORT-OF-SPAIN, March 24: Bangladesh can grab a World Cup Super Eights place on Sunday by beating Bermuda and send mighty India crashing out at the same time.
Only a dramatic reversal in form can stop Bangladesh from marching into the second round for the first time since making their World Cup debut in England in 1999.
Habibul Bashar's team began the tournament on a sensational note when they defeated higher-ranked India by five wickets in their opening match here. That win alone was enough to boost their chances of entering the Super Eights.
Match starts at 6:30pm (PST)
Expected weather: High of 31 Centigrade (88 Fahrenheit) with possible showers in the afternoon.
Pitch: Easy-paced with bounce variable.
They lost their second match against Sri Lanka, but that is not likely to affect their chances after India's below-par performances in the four-team group.
India finished their group campaign on a disastrous note as they won just one game against Bermuda, the weakest side in the group.
Bangladesh won two World Cup matches in 1999 and none in 2003, but are poised to better their record in the one-day event this time.
They looked a better side against India as they batted, bowled and fielded brilliantly, with their teenagers raising their performances when it mattered most.
Habibul is looking forward to another good show from his young and enthusiastic side against Bermuda as they are on the verge of making history.
Bermuda have so far not posed any threat to big sides in the group matches, losing by 243 runs to Sri Lanka and by a record 257 runs to India.
Their batting failed to click in both the matches as they managed just 78 against Sri Lanka and 156 against India.
David Hemp, who plays for English county Glamorgan, is the only batsman with a half-century, against India.
Teams (from):
BANGLADESH: Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Tapash Baisya, Syed Rasel, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar.
BERMUDA: Irvine Romaine (captain), Dean Minors, Delyone Borden, Lionel Cann, David Hemp, Kevin Hurdle, Malachi Jones, Stefan Kelly, Dwayne Leverock, Saleem Mukuddem, Stephen Outerbridge, Oliver Pitcher, Clay Smith, Janeiro Tucker, Kwame Tucker.
Umpires: Steve Davis (Australia) and Ian Howell (South Africa).
TV umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan).
Match referee: Allan Hurst (Australia).—AFP
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