Tigers to face West Indies in 2nd T20I today
Bangladesh looking to fight back in their must win match as they face visiting West Indies in the second T20I of the three-match series schedule to be held today (Thursday) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.
The match kicks off at 5 pm.
After winning the test and ODI series in style, the Tigers got off to a disastrous start in the first T20I in Sylhet when they lost both openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das, and Soumya Sarkar inside 3.3 overs.
Having later been reduced to 48 for four, Shakib Al Hasan and Ariful Haque staged a mini recovery but the innings lost steam and sputtered to 129 for all, a woefully inadequate total against the hard-hitting Caribbean side.
The West Indies, the current world champions in the format, then made a mockery of Bangladesh’s bowlers as they chase down the target easily in 10.5 overs as Shie Hope 16-ball 50 mercilessly punished the bowlers to all parts and took them home with eight wickets in and.
For Bangladesh, skipper Shakib Al Hasan was the only batsman shine with bat making a responsible 61 runs that helped Bangladesh from total embarrassment. The Tigers’ middle order batsmen also failed to take the responsibility in the face of West Indies sharp bowling attacks while bowlers were also helpless against the West Indian power hitters like Shai Hoipe, Keemo Paul and Nicholas Pooran.
For Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das will have to play the key role of team’s good start in the top orders while Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah are in the middle will have to take the responsibility. The Tigers’ fans expecting extraordinary performance from cutter master Mustafizur Rahman and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
For their part, to have a chance, Bangladesh will have to avoid the batting implosion that saw them surrender the initiative early in the first match. Even then, unless West Indies shown lack of form in the Test and ODI series but their class in the first T20 indicated that the series will be sealed before the final match.
Squad:
Bangladesh – Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Hider and Ariful Haque.
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Kesrick Williams, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Shai Hope, Sherfane Rutherford, Sheldon Cottrell and Oshane Thomas.
