Bangladesh seek quarter-final boost
Thursday, 5 March 2015
If Bangladesh are to make the World Cup quarter-finals, they have to win at least two of their next three matches. If they win against Scotland at the Saxton Oval today (Thursday), their next game against England will be a virtual play-off.
They are ranked No. 9 in ODIs, so Bangladesh are positioned to be dominant against lower-ranked teams. They easily defeated Afghanistan by 105 runs, a result which could have gone either way for the first 29 overs but had only one direction afterwards.
Bangladesh have never lost to Scotland, but the last of their three completed ODIs between the two sides was played in 2006. The last recorded Bangladesh-Scotland ODI was abandoned without a ball being bowled nearly five years ago.
Bangladesh have often found themselves under the extra pressure of expectation in matches against lower-ranked teams, as the threat of a potential embarrassment keeps them wary. But when fully confident, Bangladesh have dominated Associates since their own promotion in 2000.
One might think that Scotland have nothing to lose, but they would consider this game as their last realistic opportunity to put points on the board as their next two games are against Sri Lanka and Australia. They lost a great opportunity in their last game against Afghanistan.