Bangladesh have got dangerous batters: Smith

Sports Desk: Australia captain Steven Smith earmarked opener Tamim Iqbal as the most threatening player to them when they take on Bangladesh at The Oval today in a must-win game.

Given the form, he said, the swashbuckling opener could pose a serious challenge to them. He also singled out the name of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who could pose similar threat.

“I think they have got a few dangerous batters. Obviously we saw Tamim play really good innings. Mushfiqur, the keeper, he's a good, young player. They have got some good players in their group. Mashrafe is obviously a class bowler. So, yeah, look, they have got some dangerous players in their team, and yeah, we're going to have to play well tomorrow if we want to beat them,” said Smith.

Bangladesh was crushed by England by eight wickets but their batting was still impressive while Australia showed a lackluster batting performance against New Zealand. Only rain saved them from the ultimate blushes after they were reduced to 53 for three. To compound the agony, it is likely that the Oval pitch might assist the spinners as it has been used already. If so, this can be an added problem for the Smith and company.

“Yeah, I think the used wicket, obviously the same one that South Africa and Sri Lanka played on yesterday. So used wicket here at the Oval can take some spin. We've certainly got that in our mind,” he said. “Then again, we'll have a look tomorrow and see what the conditions look like. The forecast hasn't been great for the lead-in. I think it's improving a little bit today, but we'll have a look and see what we think is the best team to beat Bangladesh tomorrow.”

Smith said after the previous game that it was their worst bowling performance in recent times. He however insisted that the bowling group take such criticism from a captain in an open forum positively.

“I know they were pretty fiery in the nets today. Copped quite a few short ones. Maybe they are listening, which is good.”

“As I said, it wasn't our best performance. Hopefully it was a little bit of rust and hopefully that's gone now and we can carry on playing the way we have.”
“I think we've got a class bowling attack. The three big quicks that we have that played last game, and Hastings, obviously there's some quality bowlers in there. Hopefully they can bring their A Game tomorrow.”

Mashrafe said the other day, given the balance of Bangladesh's team against England, they were probably a bowler short. Smith also said that they could consider one more bowling option.

“I guess that's something you can certainly look at. It looks like it's going to be a pretty good wicket, and there's usually quite a few runs scored at the Oval, as well.” “It's just about assessing the situations and making sure that we play the one-day cricket that we've played for a long period of time in these tournaments, and that's by someone in the top four going on to make a big score and letting our boys that are big hitters and strong have a crack at the back end and try and make the most of that.”

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Jun 5, 2017/Nasim