Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is optimistic about his team's chances of advancing to the second round of the T20 World Cup, a milestone the team has never achieved before. His confidence is bolstered by Bangladesh's thrilling two-wicket victory over Sri Lanka and the slow-paced pitch in New York, where they are set to face the formidable South African team.

Hathurusingha believes that Bangladesh's bowlers, who are adept at exploiting slow pitches, can pose a significant challenge to South Africa in their second game on Monday at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. This belief is grounded in the team's recent performance and the nature of the pitch.

Bangladesh's win against Sri Lanka was their second victory over a higher-ranked team in the T20 World Cup, the first being a win against the West Indies in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007. Despite having never beaten South Africa in the T20 format after eight attempts, a victory tomorrow could significantly boost Bangladesh's chances of securing a spot in the Super 8 for the first time.

“Every game is pressure. It doesn't mean that, that team is more pressurised than this team now. For us, it's another important game. We want to do something we haven't done before, just getting into the second round. And it's another big opportunity for us, tomorrow's game, to fulfil that dream that we came here for,” Hathurusingha stated.

“We started with a win. That was an important game because these three teams—South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh—are fighting for those two places and of course, there's two other teams in Netherlands and Nepal, you can't take it lightly but we take one game at a time. This is another opportunity for us to get two points and then secure our place in this second round.”

Bangladesh entered the tournament with low confidence following a humiliating series defeat to the USA and a loss to India in a practice game. The top-order batting has been a major concern, and despite the win against Sri Lanka, these issues persist. Hathurusingha attributes these struggles to a lack of confidence among the batters.

“Expecting better performance, for sure, because two, three games ago, we had a 100-run partnership. And to be honest, lately, we've been inconsistent. I think it's lack of confidence and it's a difficult format to take time and get into form or take your time because you have to get go from the start,” he said.

“Confidence plays a big part in T20 cricket. Some of the batters are lack of runs. Not that they have any technical problem or anything because they train well. They're looking good in training, but it's lack of confidence and lack of runs. So, the good thing is Litton spent time in the middle and scored runs according to the conditions. He batted really well, that was a positive. And of course, we are expecting more from them in the next few games.”