South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to field in the T20 World Cup Super 12 clash against Bangladesh at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Tuesday as the Proteas look to bolster their chances of reaching the semi-finals. 

South Africa are second in Group 1 with two wins from three games, and are only above Australia because of a better net run rate.

After being beaten by the Aaron Finch-led side in their Super 12 opener, the Proteas rebounded strongly to defeat defending champions West Indies and Sri Lanka on the bounce. They are now looking to beat a winless Bangladesh to boost their chances of reaching the semi-finals. 

Speaking on his decison to field, skipper Bavuma said, “There is a bit of grass, looks a bit different. It is good that our batting got us home. Looking at the wicket, we hope that it assists our bowlers.”

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While confirming his side remains unchanged from the win against Sri Lanka, Bavuma said he would like to see a better fielding effort.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah said he would also have liked to bowl first and confirmed pace spearhead Mustafizur Rahman is resting. He also said star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s absence will hurt the side.

“Shakib has been our go to guy. It is a huge loss. It presents other guys a wonderful opportunity. The three games we have played, we were close to winning in two of those games. We would like to play some good cricket,” Mahmudullah said. 

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PLaying XIs:

Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Liton Das(w), Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah(c), Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed

South Africa: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi