Bangladesh's top-order failings ensure World Cup woes continue

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Bangladesh were the architects of their own destruction against South Africa, with powerplay wickets, out of form openers, and a flaky top four reducing the Tigers to their 24th defeat in 32 T20 World Cup outings

Bangladesh have a shocking record in the T20 World Cup. Heading into their clash with South Africa in Abu Dhabi, the Tigers had played 31 matches and won just seven. They had never won a match in a section of the competition featuring the word ‘super’ and had already lost to Scotland, Sri Lanka, England and West Indies in the 2021 tournament.

And against South Africa, they added another defeat to their name, bowled out for 84 on their way to a demoralising six-wicket defeat – their 24th in T20 World Cups and one which confirmed their elimination from the tournament (although short of a mathematical miracle, this was already a foregone conclusion before their latest pummelling).

Full credit has to be given to South Africa for their role in this match. The Proteas were ruthless with the ball and had clearly done their homework on Bangladesh, targeting the Tigers, who thrive against spin and on low-bouncing tracks, with high-bouncing deliveries.

Kagiso Rabada picked up three wickets in five deliveries inside the powerplay, removing Mohammad Naim, Souyma Sarkar, and Mushfiqur Rahum, and finished the match with career-best figures of 3 for 20, bowling 14 dot balls and conceding just one boundary. Anrich Nortje was equally clinical, taking 3 for 8 and extending his run to 15.2 overs without being hit for a six. In fact, the whole bowling attack was on song in Abu Dhabi, bowling a huge 59 dot balls and conceding just five boundaries. The only six of the day came in the 18th over when Mahedi Hasan, who scored a bold 27 off 25 balls, punished a rare poor delivery from Tabraiz Shamsi.

^{Kagiso Rabada was the player of the match}

On the Jonty Rhodes scale of fielding excellence, their performance was below par, with Nortje, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj all guilty of fielding faux pas. However, thanks to the all-round excellence of the bowling attack, fielding errors didn’t cost South Africa anything more than a handful of runs.

Considerable applause also has to be offered to Bangladesh’s bowlers who made a valiant attempt to defend 84, in particular fast bowler Taskin Ahmed who took 2 for 18 from his opening four-over spell to restrict South Africa to 41 for 3 at the end of the eighth over – if only he could have bowled another the entire innings.

However, once again Bangladesh were the architects of their own destruction with their top order letting the side down with another dismal batting display.

The Tigers headed into the match with a top order in frankly appalling form. In their previous six innings, they had lost 11 wickets in the opening six overs and passed 40 just twice inside the powerplay – first against Papua New Guinea (45 for 1) and again versus Sri Lanka (41 for 1). Their highest first-wicket partnership was 40, made by Mohammad Naim and Liton Das against Sri Lanka in their Super 12 opener, while their other five opening stands combined came to just 55 runs.

Naim, Das, Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan and Rahim had all tried their hand in the top four prior to the South Africa match and none of them had covered themselves in glory. Only Naim (twice) and Rahim scored half-centuries in Bangladesh’s opening six matches while in 25 innings combined, the quintet failed to pass 20 on 15 occasions.

And against South Africa, it was no different, with Naim and Rahim falling cheaply to bouncing deliveries from Rabada to depart for single-figure knocks, Sarkar pinned lbw for a first-ball duck, and Das also out lbw for a determined, yet quite laboured, 24 (36 balls) – to say the latter’s innings was the second-best of the day for Bangladesh is quite damning.

^{Bowler Taskin Ahmed picked up 2 for 18 in Bangladesh's futile defence}

This isn’t a new problem for Bangladesh. In their 12 matches prior to the T20 World Cup, they lost 21 wickets inside the powerplay and only once made it through six overs unscathed. Opening stands again were an issue, with six lasting fewer than 20 runs and nine ending before the 30-run mark. Their worst showing saw them post just 22 for 2 against New Zealand, but as they were chasing 61, it made little difference. Their best? 46 for 1 against Australia (Mahedi Hasan and Naim sharing a 42-run stand) and 36 for 0 against New Zealand, with Naim and Das going on to post a 59-run first-wicket stand. It's amazing what back-to-back series victories against the Antipodean powerhouses can do to paper over the cracks in a team’s performance.

Unfortunately, those cracks have been all too visible in the World Cup and as a result of their poor foundations, Bangladesh have crumbled once again on T20 cricket’s biggest stage. All they can do now is attempt to salvage some pride from their final Super 12 match against Australia and then immediately turn their attention to solving their top order woes ahead of the next tournament in just under a year’s time.

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