NEW YORK, June 10, 2024 (BSS)—South Africa captain Aiden Markram vows to come all guns blazing against Bangladesh in a bid to confirm their Super 8 berth in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.

Markram knew to materialize the hopes they would have to overcome two challenges—a slow-paced wicket in New York which would give Bangladesh a home wicket out of home and a huge number of Bangladeshi supporters living in New York and other states of USA.

“There will be lots of Bangladesh supporters, I'm sure. I think we've been doing it now for long enough that it's almost second nature. You just zone into what's happening inside the boundary ropes and putting a lot of focus on that,” Markram said in a pre-match conference at the Nassau County International Cricket Ground in New York.

“A crowd cheering obviously will give away a lot of which team has the momentum. So, if they're pretty quiet, then it means we're doing well. So, we'll drive that message and try to keep the crowd as quiet as we can.”

South Africa had already won two matches against Sri Lanka and Netherland but they had to toil extremely hard in those two matches. In their last match against Netherland at the same venue, they were on the verge of an upset before David Miller played put a masterclass to help the side earn full two points.

After playing at this venue just two days ago, Markram now knew what they would have to do to win a match. But again unlike the Netherland bowlers, all Bangladeshi bowlers knew very well how to use the slower pitch.

“You look at conditions, you look at a really strong Bangladesh team and it's going to be a proper challenge for us. So naturally looking forward to it. We've luckily had the privilege of playing two games now on the surface and at this venue so hopefully It can give us even clearer plans and we can develop plans from a batting point of view how to get to a score of maybe about 140 if we do bat first and hopefully then our bowlers can do the rest,” Markram said.

Bangladesh however would come to the game, high on confidence after beating Sri Lanka by two wickets. But Markram believes if the bowlers can continue their rich vein of form, they would be able to silence Bangladesh.

“You look at Anrich Nortje, maybe the build up to the World Cup, he would have liked to have done better, potentially come with more confidence. But we had him just before his massive injury, and he was, at that time, probably one of the best bowlers in the world. I don't think that changes, I think just a bit of backing and a bit of game time naturally to get that rust out,” he remarked.

“And then naturally a wicket where there's a bit for him to work with at least helps. The both of them have done really well. Ottniel is really clear, keeps things really simple, got a nice skill set and that's what they back. So, it's great to see it's worked for the two of them, not just the two of them, probably the whole bowling attack so far. But us as a changing room, it's great to have a Anrich Nortje firing and full of confidence.”