A stuttering Bangladesh cricket team will look to secure a win when they take on Papua New Guinea in their last Group B game of the qualifiers, and stay in the race to move to the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh will face PNG at Al Amerat Stadium in Muscat Thursday afternoon.
After securing the win against PNG, Bangladesh will have to wait for the result of the second game of the day, between Scotland and hosts Oman at the same venue.
Scotland are leading the group with two wins, followed by Oman at number two with one win.
Bangladesh also have one win but are at number three behind Oman because of an inferior Net Run Rate.
In the event of wins for Scotland and Bangladesh on the final match day of the group, things will be straight forward – the two teams will qualify for the next stage of the competition.
In case Oman win against Scotland and Bangladesh register victory against PNG, either Bangladesh or Oman with a better NRR will move forward to the main round.
Bangladesh made a nightmare start to the world event, losing to Scotland in their tournament opener by six runs.
Amid heavy criticism by the Bangladesh Cricket Board high-ups, supporters and the media, Bangladesh returned to winning ways, defeating Oman by 26 runs Tuesday, but it was a far from convincing victory for Mahmudullah's side.
Bangladesh got the edge from Oman's sloppy aerial fielding and strong performances from Mohammad Naim, Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.
A lack of a fluent start by the openers and not putting up enough runs in the powerplay have been nagging Bangladesh lately.
The situation has been compounded by the tension and pressure triggered in the dressing room by BCB influentials.
BCB president Nazmul Hasan took a toll on head coach Russell Domingo, captain Mahmudullah and Shakib following the defeat against Scotland.
Nazmul and a few influential directors expressed their displeasure on some team decisions, both to the members of the team and in an open media session.
Such has been the impact, the team during the game against Oman Tuesday made the surprising decision of making Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah bat down the order.
Mushfiq for the first time since 2016 batted at a different position than his usual No 4, while Mahmudullah batted at No 7 as opposed to his customary 5 or 6.
With the ball, eyes will be on Mahedi Hasan, who is leading the way in Bangladesh's attack, recording combined figure of four for 31 from his eight overs of spin.
Against Scotland, Mahedi triggered a middle-order collapse from 45 for one to 53 for six, taking three for 19, while in the Oman game, the off-spinner once again dominated the middle overs, slowing down the run rate and taking the wicket of captain Zeeshan Maqsood.
PNG have lost the previous two games, suffering a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Oman before losing to Scotland by 17 runs.
Their performance in the second game however, showed a lot of promise with Norman Vanua scoring 47 off 37 balls, and some superb death bowling triggering a Scottish collapse from 151 for three to 165 for nine.
Against Bangladesh, they will surely make an effort to grab a historic win and create one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.