Aditya ChaudhuriAs the Super Eight games continue in the ongoing 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, we have two big games lined up for us as Group 2’s unbeaten teams South Africa and England face each other, while Group 1 also has an important game taking place as Australia go up against Bangladesh.
Ahead of the games, here’s my prediction for Day 20 of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Men’s T20 WC 2024 Match 44 || Super Eights Group 1: Australia vs Bangladesh | 06:00 IST, June 21
Australia take on Bangladesh in their Group 1 encounter in the Super Eights, with the reigning ODI world champions looking to lock in another T20I title. The Australians came into the Super Eight stage unbeaten and have slowly ticked off all the boxes as they look like a well-oiled unit.
David Warner and Travis Head have been amongst the runs up top, while Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have both been handy with the bat and ball, with the latter in particular having played a couple of impactful innings. As far as Australia’s bowling goes, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Adam Zampa have all been chipping in regularly.
For Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman and Tanzim Sakib have been prolific with the ball, while Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mahmudullah have been amongst the runs. The Bangla Lions will hope that their openers give them a another good platform to build upon.
The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium isn’t the easiest ground for the batters to score at as we have seen in the tournament. The recent low-scoring games should give the Asian team some confidence.
Australia hold the edge here, but we should be in for a very close game.
Fantasy XI: Travis Head, Towhid Hridoy, Glenn Maxwell, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Mustafizur Rahman, Adam Zampa, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Venue: North Sound
Winner Prediction: Australia
Also watch: Is this Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli’s final T20 World Cup?
Men’s T20 WC 2024 Match 45 || Super Eights Group 2: England vs South Africa | 20:00 IST, June 21
The defending champions continue their Super Eight campaign and up next for Jos Buttler and his men are South Africa. At the high-scoring Gros Islet venue, given the firepower at their disposal, the English batters will back themselves to go big. The likes of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, and Jonny Bairstow will fancy their chances, while the likes of Jofra Archer and Reece Topley will also get some help early on in the innings.
England were critical against the West Indies in their previous Super Eight game and bowled a total of 51 dot balls against the mighty Windies.
South Africa, meanwhile, come into this game off the back of a win over the USA, which was anything but easy. The Proteas were in a spot of bother early on after losing Reeza Hendricks before Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram bailed them out. Defending 194, quite a few South African bowlers turned out to be expensive, with Tabraiz Shamsi, Marco Jansen, and Anrich Nortje getting on the end of the co-hosts’ hitting, who threatened to pull off another big upset but eventually fell 18 runs short.
There will be no respite for the Proteas against the Englishmen either, which is why I’m going with an England win here.
Fantasy XI: Quinton de Kock, Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Adil Rashid
Venue: Gros Islet
Winner Prediction: England
