Following the conclusion of the three-match ODI series, the Bangladesh cricket team is all set to play against England in the first T20 International of the three-match series. The Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram will play host to the much-fancied game of cricket on Thursday.
The Tigers have a lot to make up for as they ended up losing the first two One Day Internationals by three wickets and 132 runs respectively to lose the three-match ODI series by 2-1. The team made a comeback in the third game to score a win by 50 runs but it did not have any impact on the result of the series.
The two teams have not featured in the shortest format of the game since the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. England won the tournament by defeating Pakistan in the final by five wickets. Bangladesh, on the other hand, failed to make an impact in the league as they finished in the second-last place in Group 2 points table with only two wins from five league games.
What has happened so far?
So far in the England tour of Bangladesh 2023, the visitors have dominated the hosts by winning the ODI series by 2-1. The first ODI saw a brilliant performance from English bowlers as the hosts scored only 209 runs in the first innings. Dawid Malan earned the man of the match award for his knock of 114 runs off 145 balls.
England continued the momentum in the second game as well by scoring a win by a massive 132 runs. This time, they batted first and racked up a score of 326 runs courtesy of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, who added 132 and 76 runs respectively to the scoreboard.
Chasing the score, Bangladesh ended up with 194 runs as Sam Curran and Adil Rashid picked four wickets each. The Tigers finally recorded their first win in the series in the final game. They won by 50 runs because of Shakib Al Hasan, who contributed both with the bat and ball.
The all-rounder scored 75 runs off 93 balls along with picking four wickets to win the man of the match award.
Head to Head Record
England will be hoping to continue their winning streak against Bangladesh in the T20Is
England and Bangladesh have faced each other only once in the history of the T20 Internationals. Their only T20 outing came during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 where England defeated the Tigers by eight wickets.
It was a brilliant all-round performance by the Englishmen as they restricted the Bangladesh cricket team to 124 runs in the allotted 20 overs and then chased it within 14.1 overs.
Key Players
Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)
Shakib Al Hasan is likely to be the top player for Bangladesh on Thursday when they will lock horns with England in the first T20 International. Hasan was the top run-scorer for his team in the three-match ODI series with 141 runs to his name in three matches at an average of 47.00.
The last ODI saw Shakib smashing 75 runs off 71 balls to help his team win by 50 runs. He was instrumental with the ball as well with four wickets to his name in ten overs.
Dawid Malan (England)
For England, Dawid Malan will be the player to watch out for as he has the second-highest run-getter for the team in the ODI series. Malan collected a total of 125 runs in three games at an average of 62.50.
Malan’s best performance in the three-match series came in the first One Day International. When England was chasing 210 runs, the 35-year-old smacked 114 runs off 145 balls.
Predicted Playing XI
Bangladesh: Litton Das ©, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Rony Talukdar, Mustafizur Rahman
England: Jos Buttler ©, Philip Salt, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Rehan Ahmed, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer
Prediction
England will be riding on confidence on Thursday as they will enter the three-match T20I series after scoring a 2-1 win against the Tigers in the three-match series. The odds are in the favor of Jos Buttler & Men to cruise to a win in the first T20I and take a lead of 1-0.
Having said that, Bangladesh has a good record when it comes to playing limited-overs cricket on home pitches. Thus, despite losing to England in the ODI series, they are expected to give a good fight in the first T20 International, scheduled on Thursday.