The Bangladesh team lost the first ODI of the three-match series against England. The Tigers want to win the second match to level the series. For that purpose, Tamim Iqbal’s army is facing the English tomorrow on Friday. The match will start at 12 noon Bangladesh time at Mirpur Shere Bangla National Stadium.
Bangladesh got off to a good start after winning the toss and batting in the first ODI. But without Nazmul Hossain Shanto, the batsmen could not benefit with the bat. All wickets lost and stopped at just 209 runs. Still, the team dreams of winning in the whirlwind of Taijul-Miraj-Shakib. But David Malan’s brilliant century saw the visitors win by 3 wickets.
Bangladesh cricket team is unbeaten in seven consecutive series at home. So the Tigers have no option to win to continue that trend. Earlier in 2016, Bangladesh got the bitter taste of defeat in the last bilateral series at home to England. After that, the Tigers won seven ODI series in a row.
After 2015, losing to England in their own stronghold in Mirpur is a big blow for Bangladesh. It is known that Chittagong will have a flat wicket which is England’s strength. That is why it was important to win the first two matches to secure the series. Now if they can equalize the series, it is a big concern whether they can continue the series winning streak at home.
Bangladesh-England have played a total of 22 matches against each other in one-day cricket. Naturally, the margin of victory is heavy for the English. They won a total of 18 matches. On the other hand, Bangladesh has seen victory in four.
Possible XI of Bangladesh:
Tamim Iqbal Khan (Captain), Liton Kumar Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Mostafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Taizul Islam.
England Probable XI:
Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, David Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Rich Topley, James Vince, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
(02 March/MM)