Bangladesh will meet a bruised South African team in their World Cup opening game at the iconic Oval Stadium in London on 2 June, Sunday.

South Africa, who for a change do not have the favourites tag this year, were defeated by a huge margin of 104 runs by England on 30 May at Oval.

The massive defeat was largely due to England’s better utilisation of the conditions and impressive performances from Ben Stokes – who was adjudged Player of the Match for his all-round performance – and Jofra Archer, who added value to the English side.

While they could have hardly done things any differently to stop Archer and Stokes, South Africa would have learnt their lesson on how to extract the conditions and use them to their advantage.

This would make things even more difficult for Bangladesh. Even after losing the game, there were quite a few positives for South Africa. The form of Quinton de Kock was their biggest positive. While wickets kept falling on the other end, de Kock showed great composure and played some remarkable shots before he departed for a well-made 68. He would be disappointed, however, that he missed out on a hundred after looking set for a big one.

The South African bowling looked decent, too, and was spot on especially in the last 10 overs where they pulled off things brilliantly.

Faf du Plessis and Aiden Markram fell prey to Archer while Hashim Amla was retired hurt initially when Archer’s bouncer hit him on the helmet. That being said, the class of du Plessis and Amla, in particular, outshines their failure in the lone encounter in the World Cup so far and they could well be the difference in the match against Bangladesh.

The South Asian team, on the other hand, are facing an injury scare and it is likely that their star opener Tamim Iqbal might miss out on the opening clash against South Africa after getting injured in the nets.

Tamim averages over 50 in England in seven matches and had a great run even in the Champions Trophy played in England in 2017.

Moreover, the fitness of skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, who had a hamstring injury, is being monitored.  Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmadullah and Shakib Al Hasan are among others who were injured.

Much to the delight of Bangladesh fans, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is expected to regain proper fitness and be available for selection.

Injury concerns and an opponent desperate to win could make things a little more difficult for Bangladesh who would ideally like to better their best performance on the World Cup stage – a Quarter Final Finish in World Cup 2015.

The teams meet at the Oval, London on 2 June, Sunday. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm (IST).