Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s LIVE coverage of the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12 match between Bangladesh and England at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

LIVE COMMENTARY

Mills comes back after an expensive first over.

BAN 83/6 in 15 overs: Livingstone in for a third over. OUT! Mahmudullah heaves as the pressure to score builds. Looks to slog on the on-side over mid-wicket but hands it straight to backward point.

BAN 80/5 in 14 overs: Jordan from the other end. Great variation of pace and the batters cannot find their timing. Just four from it.

BAN 76/5 in 13 overs: Livingstone will get a second over. FOUR! Short and Afif takes his time to rock backwards and squeeze it in front of point. OUT! Afif departs after a comical run out. Mahmudullah flicked it behind to short fine, Mills misfielded, batters looked for a second off the misfield, Afif hesitates on the second, commits to it and Mahmudullah sends him back scampering. Afif Hossain run out (Mills/Buttler) 5(6b 1×4 0x6). Nurul comes in and another run out appeal straightaway. But Nurul is in comfortably this time and gets a couple. A single off the last and there was another run out opportunity there!

BAN 66/4 in 12 overs: Woakes back into the attack. Tucked away by Mahmudullah for a single. Afif greeted by a lethal bouncer as he pulls his head away from the ball’s trajectory. Tidy from Woakes. Mixing his pace and keeping it back of length.

BAN 63/4 in 11 overs: Livingstone to roll his arm over. Rahim reverse-sweeps and it runs away for FOUR! But loud LBW appeal from the bowler and Morgan goes up for the DRS. OUT! Scratch the four, it is a wicket! Rahim departs. Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Livingstone 29(30b 3×4 0x6). Afif comes in and fends back two balls for two dots.

BAN 60/3 in 10 overs: Left-armer Mills over the wicket to Mahmudullah. Steals a quick one after hitting it along the deck and Mills gets a direct hit at the striker’s end. Umpire review confirms Rahim was in by a few inches. Short and pulled away by the skipper for a couple. FOUR! Decked in short again and Rahim outwits Mills. Guides it over the keeper gently to the boundary. Full outside off and driven for a couple. Finally some convincing strokeplay by Bangladesh.

BAN 49/3 in 9 overs: Rashid continues. Two singles. FOUR! Mahmudullah hops to the pitch of the ball and lofts it over mid-off all the way to the rope.  Rashid corrects his length and goes fuller on the stumps. One of the last three.

BAN 42/3 in 8 overs: Jordan into the attack. Rahim opens the face of the bat deftly to run it deep point for a couple.  Wide down the leg and Rahim hopes to get some wood on it and misses. FOUR! Lucky but they’ll take it. Looked to cut and got the bottom edge that raced to the boundary at third.  More convincing cut from Rahim but finds the deep fielder and just one. Sliding down leg and swiveled to short fine for a single.  Jordan missing his line here. Strays on the leg again and Rahim pushes to fine for one more. Too wide on the off this time and an extra for Bangladesh. Short and wide on off and Mahmudullah checks his drive to deep point for a single.

BAN 30/3 in 7 overs: Rashid in with some leg-spin. Reverse-swept by Rahim and Mills flies at short fine and the ball bounces off his fingertips. Great effort. Just three from the over as the batters keep finding the fielders.

BAN 27/3 in 6 overs: Woakes continues. OUT! Shakib departs. Short from Woakes and he looks to pick it behind square leg and Rashid takes a stunner. Shakib Al Hasan c Rashid b Woakes 4(7b 0x4 0x6). A single by Rahim to end the over.

BAN 24/2 in 5 overs: Moeen bowls his third in the Powerplay. Two singles off the first five balls and Moeen bowls a probing length just short of good length. Slightly fuller on last ball and FOUR! Rahim lifts it arrow straight and it runs to the boundary.

BAN 18/2 in 4 overs: Woakes continues. Good bounce and looks like Rahim has been stung on his hand. Pulled away for a single and just runs from the over.

BAN 15/2 in 3 overs: Moeen continues. A slip is in for Naim. Gets a single first ball. OUT! Litton departs. Top edges it to deep square leg trying to slog sweep. OUT! Naim looks to chip it over mid-on and finds the fielder. Litton Das c Livingstone b Moeen 9(8b 2×4 0x6). Mohammad Naim c Woakes b Moeen 5(7b 0x4 0x6).  Rahim and Shakib at the crease.

BAN 13/0 in 2 overs: Woakes from the other end. On the money first-up and good bounce and comfortably defended by Naim. Close! Short and Naim rocks back and looks to pull on the on-side. Mid-off jumps and it is just out of reach, two runs. A single and two dots to end the over. Tidy from Woakes and bowling into the pitch seems to be a good ploy on this wicket.

BAN 10/0 in 1 over: First ball. Spins into Litton and cut on the backfoot to point for a dot. Shuffles to off and tucked off the pads and first run for Bangladesh. Naim takes one with a nudge to square leg. FOUR! Slightly shorter and Litton gets to the pitch of the ball and hammers it down the ground. FOUR! Slightly wide and driven through cover and mid-off.

Teams assemble for the national anthems. Off-spinner Moeen Ali to bowl to Liton Das with Mohammad Naim on the non-striker’s end. Both teams take the knee ahead of the first ball.

Bangladesh Playing XI: Litton Das, Mohammad Naim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

England Playing XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills

Left-arm medium pacer Shoriful Islam will replace an injured Mohammad Saifuddin. Shoriful, the six-foot-three-inch star of Bangladesh’s U-19 World Cup triumph in 2020, has impressive T20I stats with 17 wickets from 11 matches at 7.97 runs per over.

T20S in Abu Dhabi since IPL 2021:

Teams won batting first: 4

Teams won batting second: 9

Average first innings score: 148

What we know so far about why Quinton de Kock refused to take the field against the West Indies on Tuesday. READ what South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma had to say about the wicketkeeper’s decision not to take the knee in solidarity of the BLM movement.

PREDICTED XI

England Predicted XI: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills

Bangladesh Predicted XI: Mohammed Naim, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

How vital will the ‘Shakib Factor’ be for Bangladesh’s prospects at the T20 World Cup?

MATCH PREVIEW:

Buoyed by the emphatic win over defending champion West Indies, England would look to continue its winning momentum when it faces Bangladesh in a Super 12 clash of the T20 World Cup on Wednesday.

Its bowling unit was right on the job as the Eoin Morgan-led England bundled out West Indies for a paltry 55 in 14.2 overs before cantering home in 8.2 overs.

Against an opposition which is familiar with the sluggish sub-continent conditions and capable of producing upsets, Morgan will ill-afford to rest on the laurels.

With the match starting in the afternoon, the reigning ODI world champion will be tested in the oppressive heat of Abu Dhabi where temperature soars above 32 degrees.

To its advantage, the Abu Dhabi strip is known to be aiding the pacers and Morgan may think of bringing in Mark Wood into the mix at the expense of a batter.

For Bangladesh – which has an abysmal World Cup record with just one of its seven wins since 2007 coming against a Test playing nation (West Indies) – the key would be to exploit the conditions in its first ever T20I World Cup clash against England.

Its star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan seemed to have been under-utilised in its loss against Sri Lanka.

The left-arm spinner gave a double blow in four balls as Sri Lanka was struggling at 79 for 4 inside 10 overs but he came in to bowl his third over in the fag end of the match when the Islanders were in complete control of the chase.

England has a formidable batting line-up but its top-order looked a bit shaky the other day even though it was chasing a paltry 56 and Bangladesh pace battery spearheaded by Mustafizur Rahman would look to give the early advantage.

Bangladesh also has the likes of Taskin Ahmed, injury replacement Rubel Hossaina and left-arm quick Shoriful Islam who is waiting in the pipeline. -PTI

FULL PREVIEW: T20 World Cup 2021: England aims to maintain winning run against Bangladesh

INJURY UPDATE: Mohammad Saifuddin is ruled out of the remainder of the T20 World Cup and travelling reserve Rubel Hossain replaces him in the 15-member squad.

When and where to watch T20 World Cup 2021 – Bangladesh vs England Super 12 Live?