England will lock horns in the penultimate match of the three-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Monday. The match, however, will be a dead-rubber contest as the visitors have attained a 2-0 unassailable lead in the series after winning the second match by a whopping 132 runs.
Dawid Malan was England’s knight on a white charger in the first game, while Sam Curran and Jason Roy crushed the Bangla Tigers’ hopes of claiming bragging rights at home in the second game.
What have they done so far?
England was put to bat first and to Bangladesh’s dismay, the visitors managed to put up a massive score on the board. Bangladesh ran through England’s top order yet again, including the centurion from the previous game, Malan, reiterating that they’re a force to be reckoned with at home.
However, Jason Roy redeemed himself and scored 132 runs, which included 18 fours and a six. He along with skipper Jos Butler steadied the ship, helping England manage a score of 326.
Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, too, chipped in with their crucial cameos as they have on several occasions. Curran took the attack to the bowlers and fired a quick 33 runs off 19 balls, which included three sixes.
Roy scored 132 runs, which included 18 fours
Taskin Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh and bagged three wickets, including the crucial scalps of Phil Salt and Moeen Ali. Every bowler besides Mustafizur Rahman managed a wicket each.
Mehidy Hasan has been phenomenal in home conditions for Bangla Tigers and got the better of Dawid Malan and Jos Butler.
On the flip side, England’s bowlers were absolutely lethal. Skipper Tamim Iqbal got off to a flying start, however, with wickets falling at the other end, remained on the back foot throughout his knock of 35 runs.
Curran and Adil Rashid took most of the loot and grabbed four wickets each. Curran has been highly regarded as one of the most underrated all-rounders. Despite being a little inconsistent, Curran ran through Bangladesh’s top order and gave away only 29 runs in his spell of six overs. Rashid, who is ageing like fine wine, penetrated through Bangladesh’s defense, picked four wickets and gave away only 45 runs in his spell.
Following a top-order collapse, Shakib and Mahmudullah showed some restraint, scoring 58 and 32 runs respectively. Shakib got a start, as he had in the first game, however, the total proved to be too massive.
Taskin Ahmed and Afif Hossain played decent knocks in the dying embers of the game, but like a house of cards, the Men in Green only managed to get 194 on the board.
Head to Head record
The two behemoths of world cricket first squared off in 2000 and have locked horns 23 times. The visitors, however, have managed 19 wins while the Men in Green have been able to walk away with a win just four times.
Interestingly, Bangladesh’s resurgence has been an instrumental reason behind its grit over the last few years. More recently, they defeated a solid-looking Indian line-up 1-2 at home, reiterating that they’re not to be messed with.
Bangladesh also ended England’s 12-game winning streak back in 2010, before pulling off consecutive upsets and ultimately eliminating England from the 2015 World Cup’s group stage to qualify for their first quarterfinal.
Key Players
Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh): Shakib has played an instrumental role in Bangladesh’s success in the last few years. He has been a dependable all-rounder for the Men in Green but has struggled to get amongst the wickets in the previous two games. However, he played handy knocks in both games, which came in losing causes.
He finished as the highest wicket-taker with nine wickets in the test series against India and also managed to score 80 runs across three innings. Now that the hopes of a series win against England remains a pipe dream for Bangla Tigers, the Men in Green will be counting on his experience and skill set to ensure they manage a win in the penultimate match of the series.
Jos Butler (England): The English skipper has been one of the most lethal white-ball batsmen in the last few years. He fell pretty cheaply in the first game but redeemed himself in the second game with a score of 76 runs.
Butler scored 76 runs in the second game
Butler was absolutely phenomenal against South Africa as well. He scored 261 runs, which included a century and a half-century which he scored at an incredible average of 130.5.
Predicted XIs
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal ©, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed
England: Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, James Vince, Jos Buttler ©, Will Jacks, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood
Prediction
England looked a little off color in the first game but showed their true grit in the last showdown. While the visitors are bouncing back from consecutive defeats at the hands of South Africa and Australia, they’ve looked in good touch against the Bangla Tigers, who have more or less looked invincible and dangerous at home.
We predict England will claim a neat whitewash in their preparations for the 2023 ODI World Cup, slated to take place later this year and will force Bangladesh to rethink their strategies for the biggest stage of them all.