South Africa hoping rain stays away ahead of must-win Bangladesh clash

South Africa's opening match against Zimbabwe ended in no result due to the weather, prompting head coach Mark Boucher to admit his side need to "win all our games now"

If there's one thing South Africa won't be doing between now and the coin toss at the SCG on Thursday, it's a rain dance.

The Proteas would have felt confident of getting their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign off to a winning start against Zimbabwe on Monday. After all, they are seven places higher in the ICC rankings and boasted a 5-0 lead in the head-to-head record; their near-neighbours were playing in the second round of a T20 World Cup for the first time.

However, in Hobart, they were frustrated by the weather. Zimbabwe's innings was reduced to nine overs, from which they posted 79 for 5, before South Africa were tasked with chasing 64 in seven overs. Quinton de Kock's 18-ball 47 carried them to within 13 runs of victory before the weather gods struck again: no result and just the one point.

South Africa are no strangers to small margins. In 2021, they missed out on qualification for the Super 12s on net run rate, posting +0.739 compared to Australia's +1.216. Australia, of course, went on to lift the trophy.

And in a group including white-ball powerhouses India and Pakistan, as well as Bangladesh (their opponents in Sydney) and a potential banana skin clash against the Netherlands, head coach Mark Boucher is aware every game is now a must-win match for his side.

^{Only the weather could stop Quinton de Kock in Hobart [David Gray/Getty Images]}

"The positive is [Zimbabwe] was not a do-or-die game for us," he said. "We are still in control of what happens in this World Cup. We haven't got a good history with rain, but I would rather have it happen in the first game where we are still in control of what we can actually do.

"It's a tough group. We've got to win all our games now, and World Cups are cut-throat. But we'll see, it's still very early in the tournament.

"Hopefully the rain stay away, and we can get some good cricket in to showcase our skills."

THE BIG MATCH

Who: South Africa v Bangladesh

Where: SCG, Sydney

When: Thursday, October 27 (2pm local time, 4am BST)

Prediction: South Africa

Despite the frustrations of their opener, South Africa will be buoyed by both the performance of de Kock – "Quinny played some special shots, which I thinks sends a message" – and their strong record against Bangladesh.

South Africa are unbeaten in seven meetings between the two sides, including a six-wicket win with 39 balls to spare in Abu Dhabi at the 2021 T20 World Cup. On that occasion, Anrich Nortje was the standout performer, picking up 3 for 8 from 3.2 overs to skittle the Tigers for 84.

Taskin Ahmed, however, picked up two early powerplay wickets (including de Kock), to get South Africa off to a shaky start. The 27-year-old right-armer heads to Sydney in rich form after picking up 4 for 25 in his side's nine-run win over the Netherlands.

"We have been watching the last few games [and] the new ball swings a bit more than in the subcontinent," he said following the win. "I played in the 2015 World Cup in Australia, so I experienced the conditions. The new balls swings more but after that, it's easy to bat.

^{Taskin Ahmed (centre) impressed with the ball against the Netherlands [David Gray/Getty Images]}

"If we can execute what the situation demands for the future, we can do well. We're looking forward to the future games to do well in the powerplay and death, and we are focusing on improvement."

It's no secret that Bangladesh have struggled in T20 cricket in 2022, winning just four matches from a possible 16 heading into the World Cup, including a four-match losing streak on the eve of the tournament.
Although they won against the Netherlands, and currently occupy top spot in group two on net run rate, the manner of their victory was far from convincing.

They laboured to 144 for 8, with Najmul Hossain (25 off 20), Afif Hossain (38 off 27) and Mossadek Hossain (20 not out off 12) the only players to make any impact on proceedings. With the ball, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar and Mossadek all conceded in excess of eight runs per over while some ropey death bowling allowed Paul van Meekeren to share a 34-run tenth-wicket stand with Fred Klaassen off just 19 deliveries.

Boucher, however, isn't willing to underestimate Thursday's opponents: "Every game you play, you have to try and win. We watched a bit of the Bangladesh game. They got off to a good start but they stumbled a bit in the middle. I think their batting was really good as well.

"T20 cricket on a day, you can have one or two guys come off and that can be a win for you. We believe that we've got some good quality bowlers and some good quality batters to be able to give us quite a few different chances of [the win] coming off. I'm sure Bangladesh probably feel the same."