Tigers aim to finish on high against Kiwis

Bangladesh aim to continue their winning spree ahead of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup as they take on the visiting New Zealand for the fifth and final game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka on Friday, reports BSS.

The match which starts at 4:00pm will be aired live on Gazi TV and T Sports.

The Tigers had already clinched the series, following their six-wicket victory in the fourth game that gave them the unbeatable 3-1 lead. The hosts won the first match by seven wickets and second one by four runs before tasting a 52-run defeat in the third game.

Though they toiled for their victory in the fourth game, chasing a target of just 94 runs but got all the things right as they confirmed the back-to-back series victory at home over Australia and New Zealand.

It was their first ever series victory in this format against those two teams, which they thought would boost them up in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Oman and Dubai, to be held from 17 October to 14 November.

The Tigers had no series scheduled ahead of the World Cup apart from setting up a conditioning camp in Oman, a week before the tournament. So the fifth game against New Zealand tomorrow would be their last International game. Bangladesh have two practice matches ahead of the World Cup.

Bangladesh however would have to play the last game of the series without ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was rested after his old finger injury disturbed him throughout the series. Therefore Shakib’s wait for going past Lasith Malinga as the highest wicket-taker of the T20 format has been extended. Shakib needs two wickets to eclipse Malinga. Bangladesh also could rest Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman and Nasum Ahmed for the last match.

Captain Mahmudullah Riyad said they would try to continue the winning spree despite those players after confirming their series as they want to make the series scoreline 4-1.

“The credit for the series win goes to the team management and boys. There is one more opportunity and hopefully, we will regroup together and try to win the game,” Mahmudullah said. New Zealand though lost their first ever T20 series to Bangladesh, they had little to regret. The result didn’t show but they fought neck-to-neck against Bangladesh on this slow and extremely tough pitch.

Moreover in this squad, they had no players of their main team, which would play the Twenty20 World Cup. So the series was a case of learning for the young and inexperienced players of this squad. But their skipper Tom Latham said they want to finish on high, winning the fifth and final game on Friday.

“I am pleased the way we could take it to the last over (in the fourth game),” New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said.

“We lost quick wickets and it was hard to keep the momentum going. The way we have been able to adjust slightly on different surfaces, a young group who hasn’t played much international cricket, and a lot of us haven’t played here, we hope to put a near-perfect performance in the fifth game.”

As per the stat, the two teams so far locked horns in 14 matches with Kiwis winning 11 and Bangladesh the rest of the three-which all came in this series.

However, the Tigers’ stat in T20 cricket still looked not up to the mark. They so far played 112 matches and won 41. They had lost a staggering number of 69 matches while two matches fetched no result.

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah Riyad (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Afif Hossain, Naim Sheikh, Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam and Nasum Ahmed.

New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt & wk), Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell (wk), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner and Will Young.