Buoyant Bangladesh look to seal series against depleted England

By Charlie On Mar 11, 2023

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The Bangladesh-England tour reaches a critical point on Sunday. The home side is 1-0 up against the visiting world champions. They have the remaining two matches in the T20I bilateral series in Dhaka, traditionally considered as Bangladesh’s fort, even accounting for the fact that the shortest format usually throws up unpredictable contests where context sometimes takes a backseat. But all of a sudden, the marauding visitors find themselves under pressure on and off the field.

England’s squad limitations have given them only 12 players to choose from. They didn’t name Will Jacks’ replacement, while Reece Topley is reportedly struggling with a niggle. It has left them with no batting options in the bench. At least they have Phil Salt and Ben Duckett as keeping options, otherwise it wold have kept captain Jos Buttler on the edge.

England have a pretty strong bowling attack, but they need to get their act together. Adil Rashid will be the key bowler, with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes to provide the firepower at the other end. Moeen Ali have a good recent record at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, so he might come in hand with both bat and ball in the last two games.

While England are all hands on deck, the home side have a fitter squad, with a number of performers already sitting out. But those who played in the first T20I, can expect to continue in Dhaka. Bangladesh have a balanced squad in respect to batting, bowling and fielding. Bangladesh would want a similarly quick partnership from Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy, while Shakib Al Hasan and Afif Hossain will be expected to play the finishers’ role again. But Bangladesh fans would want Litton Das to get a big one after he got several starts in the last couple of series.

Bangladesh’s bowling was good in the first game, but the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Shakib would be expected to bowl better in the first half of their 20 overs. Hasan nailed his yorkers well in the first game, with Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman providing him with great support in the death overs. England, on the other hand, need a comeback to keep themselves afloat in the T20I series.

Form guide

Bangladesh WLLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

England LWWWW

In the spotlight

Najmul Hossain Shanto‘s three half-centuries in England’s tour of Bangladesh, have all come in similar situations. But his 27-ball fifty in the first T20I was really the most attractive, and the most effective, of these knocks. Shanto played his shots, particularly down the ground, with a bit more power. The way he handled Mark Wood – hitting the fast bowler for four consecutive boundaries – showed Shanto’s growing confidence against top attacks.

Jos Buttler played a blinder of an innings in the first game in Chattogram. His quickfire 67 included sixes pumped down the ground, but his lovely shots threading the off-side field balanced out the slogs. But this tour is getting tougher as England have a very limited squad. Buttler may have to play a more well-rounded role in the Dhaka matches, to ensure they can use up the full 20 overs with big-hitting shots. Buttler’s leadership, underrated nonetheless, has so far looked quite comfortable despite the limited resources in bowling.

Team news

Bangladesh traditionally don’t change winning line-ups. Beating England should be reason enough to continue with the same XI.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Rony Talukdar, 2 Litton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Nasum Ahmed, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

England’s lack of options may force them to continue with the same XI.

England (probable): 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jofra Archer

Pitch and conditions

The Shere Bangla National Stadium has a 164-run average score for the side batting first in the last five BPL matches this season. A 170-plus score should be enough for sides batting first. The weather continues to be warm and dry in Dhaka.

Stats and trivia

Bangladesh set a team record of 24 fours in the first game, their most in a T20I.

Mustafizur Rahman and Chris Jordan are two and five wickets, respectively, from taking 100 wickets in T20Is.

England became the 16th team that Bangladesh have beaten in T20Is. They are yet to beat only South Africa, Scotland and Hong Kong in this format.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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