It has been said repeatedly by a large number of cricket experts
throughout the world that South African cricket is dead. South Africa
however are a resurgent side and they have proved this fact from time to time.
The recent thrashing that they handed out to Bangladesh in the first
One day international of the three match One day international series. The second
match of the ODI series is to be held in Mirpur, Bangladesh. The Mirpur pitch
is known for its spinning turf as a result of which Bangladesh are expected
to go in with three specialist spinners yet again. The Mirpur ground is also
the venue for the third One day international between Bangladesh and South
Africa.
The team for Bangladesh is expected to be the same as the first
ODI. The team will be looking to make amends to their recent poor showing. The
Bangladesh team that improved tremendously under then coach Dave Whatmore
is undergoing a bad phase. Some of the players of the team have been performing
well but Bangladesh are yet to find a match winning player. The Bangladesh team
was let down by their batsmen in the first ODI and will thus try and ensure
that the same does not happen again. Besides Tamim Iqbal, no other batsman from
the Bangladesh team has really looked comfortable at the crease. The South African
bowlers ran mayhem in the previous match and the Bangladesh team will try it's
very best to stop an encore.
The South African cricket team on the other hand has
been in great touch. All the star players of the team seem to have found form
in the past couple of months and the Bangladesh team had to bear the brunt.
Herschelle Gibbs and Greame Smith have both been in stupendous form and have
played some blistering innings in a large number of matches of the recent past.
The opening pair have also been complementing each other amazingly well, a fact
that was evident by the 400+ opening partnership in the test match. The opening
duo is expected to perform yet again. The South African bowling department has
been doing a fine job as they have ensured that some of the more established
players of the Bangladesh side, including Mohammad Ashraful and Junaid Siddique,
are not given a chance to free their arms. The South African team would be looking
forward to wrapping up the series in the second ODI itself.
The match is expected to go in South Africa's favor but any amount of complacency
on the part of South Africa could prove costly. The Bangladesh team would have
to do something extraordinarily special in order to spring a surprise on this
South African side at Mirpur this coming Wednesday 12th march 2008.
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