Buoyant Bangladesh await first final berth

Bangladesh Under 19s will represent the country in its first ever semi-final match in any level’s cricket as they take on West Indies today in the youth World Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The second semi-final, starting on 9 am will be aired live.
Standing on the brink of a historical event, the players however refused to be stifled by emotion, pondering that the job is not yet done.  “If we let them to be gripped by emotion and excitement, it would be tough for us to show our credential. It’s right it’s a historical feat but we have to win it. Otherwise there is no value of this history,” said Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hassan Miraj.
“We are here to win the match. So it’s important to control the emotion in a bid to put up our best. The players know that and they are determined to go all guns blazing.”
On paper, they will come up as an absolute favourites against the Caribbean side, a familiar foe of Bangladesh whom they had whitewashed just a week ago of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.  Even in the last two years, Bangladesh came up as winner in regular basis when the two sides lock horn in a bilateral series. Given the stat and performance, Bangladesh have the psychological edge over the West Indies.
But the Caribbean side is oozing with confidence even though the ‘mankad’ incident in the match against Zimbabwe tarnished their image to some extent. Their fast bowlers had thrown the pitch equation out of the question to leave the opponent batsmen in a jeopardized state with their searing pace. The new ball pair Alzzari Joseph and Holder had already shown their ability to clock over 140 km. Above all they have been here for a quite long time and so they have got enough time to adjust with the condition. Therefore a thrilling match is on the cards.
As it is predicted, Bangladesh would go with relying on their spinners who so far were able to trouble the oppositions.
“Their fast bowlers are quite good and threatening but we think we play well the ball with high pace rather than low pace. Specially our openers like to play fast bowlers. Unfortunately they didn’t get that type of fast bowler in the earlier matches. Against West Indies they would get the opportunity to play the real fast bowlers and hopefully they will show what they are capable of,” Miraj informed.
“At the same time, I am sure, if our spinners put up their natural game, they will not be able to make any resistance,” said an upbeat Miraj who believed a score of 250 could be a good total.
Bangladesh had six days off after the quarter-final match against Namibia. The big gap is believed to distract the players from the concentration sometimes but according to Miraj, the gap helped them  devise a good plan for the semi-final.
“We didn’t sit idle in those days. We practiced everyday and got enough time to set a well plan. Hopefully it will work well.”
While Bangladesh looked thoroughly confident, West Indies are not willing to leave an inch. They vowed to put behind the nightmare of 0-3 loss against Bangladesh to come up with their best in the second semi-final today.
“We've grown as a team and we've gotten better and better as the tournament went on. Right now I think most of the guys are looking forward to the game against Bangladesh to see how we've grown as a team and how better we can put our performances together,” said West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer.

Buoyant Bangladesh await first final berth

Bangladesh Under 19s will represent the country in its first ever semi-final match in any levels cricket as they take on West Indies today in the youth World Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The second semi-final, starting on 9 am will be aired live. Standing on the brink of a historical event, the players however refused to be stifled by emotion, pondering that the job is not yet done. If we let them to be gripped by emotion and excitement, it would be tough for us to show our credential. Its right its a historical feat but we have to win it. Otherwise there is no value of this history, said Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hassan Miraj. We are here to win the match. So its important to control the emotion in a bid to put up our best. The players know that and they are determined to go all guns blazing. On paper, they will come up as an absolute favourites against the Caribbean side, a familiar foe of Bangladesh whom they had whitewashed just a week ago of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Even in the last two years, Bangladesh came up as winner in regular basis when the two sides lock horn in a bilateral series. Given the stat and performance, Bangladesh have the psychological edge over the West Indies. But the Caribbean side is oozing with confidence even though the mankad incident in the match against Zimbabwe tarnished their image to some extent. Their fast bowlers had thrown the pitch equation out of the question to leave the opponent batsmen in a jeopardized state with their searing pace. The new ball pair Alzzari Joseph and Holder had already shown their ability to clock over 140 km. Above all they have been here for a quite long time and so they have got enough time to adjust with the condition. Therefore a thrilling match is on the cards. As it is predicted, Bangladesh would go with relying on their spinners who so far were able to trouble the oppositions. Their fast bowlers are quite good and threatening but we think we play well the ball with high pace rather than low pace. Specially our openers like to play fast bowlers. Unfortunately they didnt get that type of fast bowler in the earlier matches. Against West Indies they would get the opportunity to play the real fast bowlers and hopefully they will show what they are capable of, Miraj informed. At the same time, I am sure, if our spinners put up their natural game, they will not be able to make any resistance, said an upbeat Miraj who believed a score of 250 could be a good total. Bangladesh had six days off after the quarter-final match against Namibia. The big gap is believed to distract the players from the concentration sometimes but according to Miraj, the gap helped them devise a good plan for the semi-final. We didnt sit idle in those days. We practiced everyday and got enough time to set a well plan. Hopefully it will work well. While Bangladesh looked thoroughly confident, West Indies are not willing to leave an inch. They vowed to put behind the nightmare of 0-3 loss against Bangladesh to come up with their best in the second semi-final today. Weve grown as a team and weve gotten better and better as the tournament went on. Right now I think most of the guys are looking forward to the game against Bangladesh to see how weve grown as a team and how better we can put our performances together, said West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer.