Bangladesh vs Papua New Guinea Prediction: Who will win today's T20 World Cup 2021 match?

With a Super 12 spot at stake, Bangladesh will take on Papua New Guinea (PNG) in match number nine of the T20 World Cup 2021 at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground on Thursday. While PNG are out of the reckoning for a place in the Super 12 round, they can still spoil Bangladesh’s party.

Bangladesh’s close loss to Scotland in their opening encounter has made Group B the more interesting of the Round 1 groups. While Scotland have won both their matches and top the group with four points, Oman and Bangladesh have one win and one loss each. Two of the three teams will qualify for the Super 12 stage depending on Thursday’s results. Oman will take on Scotland in the other group clash.

In their previous match, Bangladesh fought hard to defeat Oman and stay alive in the T20 World Cup 2021. PNG, meanwhile, went down to Scotland by 17 runs but not before putting up a fight.

T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh cannot afford to stumble against PNG

While Bangladesh will be expected to put it across PNG on Thursday, the latter will be bolstered by a couple of upsets that have been caused in Round 1 so far. While Scotland’s six-run triumph against Bangladesh was on an unexpected line, Namibia also stunned Netherlands by six wickets in a Group A encounter on Wednesday.

Of course, both Scotland and Namibia are much-more experienced than PNG. Having said that, the Assad Vala-led squad have shown that they can put up a fight. Although they went down to Oman by 10 wickets, they were reasonably placed at 81 for 2 at one stage. Against Scotland as well, they claimed six wickets for 15 runs with the ball before putting up good resistance with the willow after a disastrous start. There is no reason for Bangladesh to take PNG lightly.

Following a below-par show against Scotland, Bangladesh lifted themselves in time to get the better of a spirited Oman. Their talismanic all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan, stood up to the cause, scoring 42 off 29 and then claiming three wickets with his left-arm spin. Mohammad Naim also chipped in with a fine fifty at the top of the order while Mustafizur Rahman ran through the Oman batting with figures of 4 for 36.

There are still a few issues for Bangladesh though heading into the clash against Oman. Opener Liton Das has to get runs while their middle and lower order need to contribute more. Bangladesh’s fielding too was rather poor against Oman. They cannot afford any slip-ups against PNG.

Prediction: Bangladesh to win match nine of the T20 World Cup 2021.