🏏Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #28: BD vs NED 28 Oct 🏏 - Page 3

With the World Cup now finally past the halfway stage the semifinalists are all but decided, but such has been the fortune (or misfortune) of these two sides, it seems highly unlikely either will be taking up one of those four spots. Though with Bangladesh looking to end a four-game losing streak and the Netherlands on a never-ending quest to grow the game back home, this will no doubt be a keenly fought contest.

While this is just the third ODI between these two sides, there's also a hidden history that many might not be aware of. Harkening back to the 90s when both were just fledgling cricketing nations, there was a hard fought encounted in one of the lesser-known ICC tournaments, the result of which could be seen as a pivotal sliding doors moment in the history of Bangladesh cricket. Isam caught up with some of the key protagonists of that game to paint a vivid picture of an intriguing episode in a forgotten cricketing rivalry.

In terms of the Bangladesh camp, a lot of the talk in the lead up to this game has been Shakib Al Hasan's mini-break, which saw him head back home for some sessions with his mentor. He's back now, having cut his stay in Dhaka short by a day, but despite certain quarters questioning the reasoning behind Shakib's break, his teammates say team morale has not been impacted by their captain's brief stint away from the squad.

Thank you for the tag Raji

Thanks for the tag Raji

Hope Netherlands win today

Starts with 10 pts

Netherlands have won the toss and have opted to bat

Neds won the toss and elected to bat first.

Scott Edwards: We'll have a bat first, wicket looks good. Hopefully, we can score quick. The good thing is it is a quick turnaround, so we need to leave the loss behind. We've set high expectations on ourselves, we need to just focus on the games to come. Barring the last game, we've been playing a lot of good cricket. Two changes - Shariz coming in for Roelof.

Shakib Al Hasan: We have to do better with batting and bowling, especially in the powerplay. If we can do that, the momentum will be with us. We've got a lot of Bangladeshis who have travelled across the border, plus in Kolkata we speak the same language, have a similar culture.

Teams:

Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam

Netherlands (Playing XI): Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren