Can Bangladesh block Zimbabwe's dream run?

"I don't think that we're trying to put a statement out there. I think that with the upset between us and Pakistan and the upset between Ireland and England, I think the statement is already out there. It would be really good to involve some of the lesser teams because it creates that bit of excitement around the World Cup, especially when you do have the upsets, and it opens both groups up really nicely," said Zimbabwe's skipper Craig Ervine in a strong statement ahead of their clash against Bangladesh.

His call for more games is likely to be heard louder if Zimbabwe are to make it through the Super 12 stage and get to the semifinal. That thought isn't as incredulous as it may sound, given that Zimbabwe haven't lost a game yet, and already having two of their strongest opponents - South Africa and Pakistan - out of their way. They sit at No. 3 in the points table currently and could move up to second by tomorrow evening if they beat Bangladesh, a side that has blown hot and cold so far in the tournament.

After a hard-fought win against the Netherlands in Hobart, Bangladesh were outplayed completely by South Africa and will be looking to pick up the pieces in their third encounter. Their batting will be of worry given that they have a high score of just 38 so far. They've been made to question if their overall approach, of being constantly aggressive, goes against Bangladesh's natural style.

Sridharan Sriram, Bangladesh's technical consultant currently, who also had a long stint in the coaching set-up of the Australia men's team, hinted that they were working towards being smarter in shot selection across different grounds.

"Some grounds are diagonally big, some grounds have big side boundaries, some have straight but long boundaries, straight. I think playing around with the dimensions and knowing the batters' strengths, hitting pockets and hitting boundaries are important, and I think Jamie [Siddons] has spoken to the boys about that," he said.

As they move to a different venue again, how quickly they adapt to these challenges could also dictate how far Zimbabwe's remarkable turnaround and journey can go in World Cup 2022.

When:October 30 at 14:00 Local Time

Where: The Gabba, Brisbane

What to expect: This will be the first match of World Cup 2022 at the iconic Gabba barring the practice games that took place ahead of the tournament. The conditions are expected to be sunny and hot. In an afternoon game, that could play a big factor if the spinners are to come into play on a traditionally pace-friendly pitch.

Head to head: Bangladesh 12 - 7 Zimbabwe

Team watch:

Bangladesh:

Tactics & Matchups: A lot of Bangladesh's fortunes could hinge on how they plan for Sikandar Raza in a line-up that heavily hinges on his batting firepower. Three of Raza's failures so far have come when he has tried to pull short/back of length balls. At the Gabba, the likes of Taskin Ahmed or Ebadot Hossain (if he plays) could offer a good chance of exploiting it.

Probable XI: Najmul Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud/Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

Zimbabwe:

Tactics & Matchups: Zimbabwe might not boast of a pace attack like South Africa's, but considering the damage that they did against Bangladesh, they too will be hopeful of creating a flutter. With their pace attack consisting of Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans bringing in a lot of variety in terms of their mode of operation, and with all three being in form, Zimbabwe ought to pose more than a simple challenge to Bangladesh's top order at The Gabba.

Probable XI: Wesley Madhevere, Craig Ervine, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Luke Jongwe, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

Did you know?

-A win would take Zimbabwe closer to a top four finish in Group 2 and thereby a direct qualification for T20 World Cup 2024.

-Raza's seven Player of the Match awards in 2022 is the most by a player in a calendar year in T20Is.

-Bangladesh has beaten a Full Member team only once in T20 World Cups - West Indies in Johannesburg in 2007 in what was their inaugural match in the competition.

What they said:

"We've got a huge chance to make the semis. Again, it requires us to win against Bangladesh and also to beat Netherlands, and then we've got our final game against India, and depending on some other results. But we can't look too far ahead right now. I think we're probably just looking at tomorrow and trying to concentrate on tomorrow's game and putting in a good performance tomorrow, and then after that, then we can look at Netherlands and plan our way forward from there - Craig Ervine.

The wicket looks a typical Gabba wicket. It'll have good pace, bounce and carry. Maybe a little bit of initial movement early on, but I think a very good batting wicket, fast outfield. You get value for shots here if you can time the ball into pockets. It'll be a good game, a high-scoring, 160, 170 kind of game - Sridharan Sriram.