Bangladesh are determined to wrap up three-match T20 International series against England with a match to go when they would take on the World Champions in this format in the second match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The match which starts at 3:00 pm, will be aired live on T-sports channel, reports news agency BSS.
Bangladesh won the first match in Chattogram by six wickets, thanks to a disciplined batting and bowling performance.
The way the Tigers outclassed the T20 powerhouse and the reigning global champions in the game is itself a huge booster to clinch the series, said young pacer Hasan Mahmud, who contributed in the win with a classical death over bowling.
Obviously the only target is to clinch the series after the way we won the first game
“Obviously the only target is to clinch the series after the way we won the first game,” Hasan, who took 2-26 in the first match, said on Saturday.
“England are extremely powerful in this format but we played well to beat them. If we can put up the performance like this in the next match, there is a sense of belief that we would end up winning the game.”
England were moving towards 200 in the first game, specially the way their skipper Jos Buttler was batting. Hasan who came to bowl in the 11th over shifted the momentum to Bangladesh, removing Buttler in the 17th over. Beforehand Buttler who struck four 6’s, hit two alone in Hasan’s consecutive two deliveries.
“The game plan is to defend anyhow and I did that exactly without thinking what he (Buttler) is doing. We’ll try to stick to our game plan in the next match too.”
The first match of the series was the only second game between the two sides and both of the teams now won one match each. However, Bangladesh have the chance now to win the first ever bilateral series in this format between the two sides.
More importantly the series victory would bolster Bangladesh’s psychological strength as they are trying to build a team for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
England were flying high after winning the ODI series but losing two matches in Chattogram came as a shocker for them. They now came back to the venue in Mirpur where they won both of the ODIs to seal the series.
Mirpur pitch was typically slow and low in the first match but England coped with the condition excellently to win the game. In the game, they got slightly better batting wicket and showed their muscle power, which made them almost invincible in white ball cricket.
There is high chance that they will be presented a typical Mirpur wicket in the second T20I and it might make their task to level the series tougher one.
Squads
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (C), Liton Kumar Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed, Nurul Hasan Sohan (wk), Shamim Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Towhid Hridoy, Rejaur Rahman Raja and Tanvir Islam
England: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Phil Salt (wk), Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Rehan Ahmed, Reece Topley and Chris Woakes.