Pakistan and Bangladesh will face each other in the 3rd T20 of the series on 1st June at Gaddafi Stadium.
Match Preview:
It is unlikely that two Twenty20 International victories over a feeble opposition will persuade Pakistan’s rightfully doubtful supporters that any sort of turning point has been reached. However, there is finally evidence of positive progress.
Pakistan’s batting strategy has started to resemble that of a contemporary Twenty20 International team, avoiding the temptation to anchor for full-on attack. With encouraging intent from the beginning and throughout the middle overs, they appear to have the means to accomplish this.
The information this series provides about Pakistan’s bowling is more ambiguous because they won the toss and defended large totals. Only time will tell how well leg spinners Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan can maintain pressure against better batting, as this isn’t Pakistan’s finest bowling attack, especially when it comes to the fast-bowling trio.
Even though it will be more difficult to keep out superior sides, they should be commended for never once appearing to consider letting Bangladesh into the hunt.
This tour has been somewhat of a hiding-to-nothing for Bangladesh. They had already set the stage with a series loss to the United Arab Emirates, and the challenge was made much more difficult by the absence of a few well-known players.
There have been moments of hope; in the final few overs of both Pakistan’s innings, Bangladesh’s death bowlers have outperformed Pakistan’s hitters, bringing back what could have been much higher totals.
A glaring flaw in the batting is a lack of firepower, which puts even more strain on the bowlers. Aside from the occasional cameo, Bangladesh has found it difficult to maintain an attack against Pakistan’s comparatively lackluster speed bowling arsenal and has lost wickets in clusters throughout crucial stages of the chase. Perhaps their style of play is better suited to defending a total, but during the series, it has been evident that this is Bangladesh’s weakest format.
Playing XI:
Pakistan: 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Mohammad Haris (wk), 4 Hasan Nawaz, 5 Salman Agha (capt), 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Abbas Afridi 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Abrar Ahmed
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das (capt), 3 Parvez Hossain Emon, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Jaker Ali (wk), 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Khaled Ahmed
Pitch and weather report:
It is predicted to be hot and dry once more, and the final game will be played on a new field.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 21 matches have been played between these sides with Pakistan winning 18 while Bangladesh stood victorious in just 3 games.
Prediction:
Given how Pakistan performed in the first two games, they are expected to win the second game of the series as well.
Where to watch:
Pakistan: Tamasha, Tapmad
North America: WILLOW
Africa: SuperSport
Bangladesh: T SPORTS, Tapmad
UK: ARY DIGITAL
MENA (Middle East & North Africa): cricbuzz
Sri Lanka: Dialog
