Tigers out to beat Dutch today

Bangladesh are determined to get back to winning way when they will take on Netherlands in their third game of the T20 World Cup at St. Vicent in West Indies on Thursday. The match starts at 8.30 PM (Bangladesh Time), report agencies.

A win against Netherlands will keep them in the hunt of the Super 8 phase. Bangladesh edged Sri Lanka past by two wickets in a thrilling contest but conceded a heartbreaking four-run defeat to South Africa after failing to chase down just 114 runs.

The Netherlands, however, is believed to give Bangladesh a tough fight, considering their form in this tournament.

But Bangladesh had the upper-hand over the Dutch at least in T20 World Cup. They beat Netherlands twice in T20 World Cup history at Dharamashala in 2016 and at Hobert in 2022. Overall they won three matches against the Dutch in four meetings.

But what would haunt Bangladesh was their 87-run defeat to Netherlands in 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The defeat which was a tough pill to swallow sparked a widespread criticism back in in country. When they will take on Netherlands again in another World Cup, albeit in another format of cricket, the defeat is believed to come to haunt them again.

"The match that we lost to Netherlands is past now. That was in the ODI format. But it's a different format of cricket," Bangladesh pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib said.

He also added that Bangladesh are now eying to win the last two matches of the group in a bid to confirm the Super 8 phase.

"The defeat to South Africa is past now. We have two matches at hands, so we need to win those two matches. We are confident that we will be able to beat those two teams."

Meanwhile, Bangladesh endured a hectic travel schedule after their South Africa game in New York, with their chartered flight out delayed by five hours. They arrived early Tuesday morning in their Kingstown hotel, and cancelled training on that day.

Coupled with the travel stress, Bangladesh are dealing with heartbreak of a close defeat to South Africa. Their top order batting has also been worrying. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto opened with Tanzid Hasan against South Africa, with Soumya Sarkar left out, but neither opening pair has managed a double-digit stand yet in this tournament. Litton Das showed a bit of form against Sri Lanka but gave it away cheaply against South Africa. Only Towhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah have shown batting form, while it has mostly been the bowling attack that has kept Bangladesh afloat.