  We present hydrodynamical simulations to model the accretion flow from a
polar circumbinary disc onto a high eccentricity ($e=0.78$) binary star system
with near unity mass ratio ($q=0.83$), as a model for binary HD 98800 BaBb. We
compare the polar circumbinary disc accretion flow with the previously studied
coplanar case. In the coplanar case, the circumbinary disc becomes eccentric
and the accretion alternates from being dominant onto one binary member to the
other. For the polar disc case involving a highly eccentric binary, we find
that the circumbinary disc retains its initially low eccentricity and that the
primary star accretion rate is always about the same as the secondary star
accretion rate. Recent observations of the binary HD 98800 BaBb, which has a
polar circumbinary disc, have been used to determine the value of the $\rm
H\alpha$ flux from the brighter component. From this value, we infer that the
accretion rate is much lower than for typical T Tauri stars. The eccentric
orbit of the outer companion HD 98800 A increases the accretion rate onto HD
98800 B by $\sim 20$ per cent after each periastron passage. Our hydrodynamical
simulations are unable to explain such a low accretion rate unless the disc
viscosity parameter is very small, $\alpha < 10^{-5}$. Additional observations
of this system would be useful to check on this low accretion rate.
