Bangladesh eye whitewash towards depleted world champions

Big image – History beckons for Bangladesh

Bangladesh could be forgiven for going into this third and ultimate T20I with a way of Mission Accomplished. A collection win towards England has been an extended, very long time coming – 20 years, in truth, spanning three completely different codecs and a spread of deep and lasting indignities, from their unready Test efforts in 2003, to their near-miss at Mirpur on England’s 2010 tour.

Since then, they have been closing the hole, with a minimum of one victory in every of their final 5 bilateral collection – both aspect of their best triumph so far, the thrilling win in Adelaide in 2015, with which they vaulted into the World Cup knockouts at England’s expense. But eventually, in holding their nerve in Sunday’s low-scoring thriller, they’ve secured a slice of silverware that can rely amongst their proudest achievements.

Now, nonetheless, the problem is to go once more – to dig that little bit deeper in a state of affairs that England themselves may recognise from their dwelling collection towards Australia in 2018. Back then at Old Trafford, England’s collection was lengthy within the bag at 4-0 with one to play, however the jeopardy of the whitewash raised the stakes for each side. Cue the feistiest contest of the lot, a gripping two-wicket win, delivered by a Jos Buttler century. The skilled satisfaction of England’s double-World Champions calls for a redoubling of their focus as they search to keep away from such an indignity; and due to this fact, the identical will probably be required of their hosts.

There’s been mitigation aplenty for England’s off-colour shows within the first two matches – as Buttler identified after the second match, the 50-over World Cup is looming in October, and due to this fact the possibility to advertise the likes of Moeen Ali and Sam Curran, and provide them extra time within the center than they may ordinarily get on the finish of a 20-over recreation, is smart in the long run. But equally, England’s ill-balanced line-up has been all too simply uncovered in two contests, and as Nasser Hussain identified on Sky Sports, there is a level at which such big-picture choice comes throughout as an absence of respect.

Still, there’s been lots cause to consider that Bangladesh would have gotten the higher of England, even when Sam Hain or Jordan Cox had been flown in to bulk out that center order, on the expense of, say, Chris Jordan, whose 2.5-over workload epitomises the overload of bowling choices at Buttler’s disposal on this collection.

It took, in any case, a pair of excellent centuries from Dawid Malan and Jason Roy to topple Bangladesh within the ODI collection, and so hand Bangladesh a primary bilateral dwelling defeat within the format for seven years. Having now transferred that very same focus into the 20-over format, the hosts have proven a spread of abilities that augur nicely for the same period of dwelling dominance.

In Najmul Hossain Shanto, they’ve come across a batter with a supreme religion in his strategies, both to romp to a 27-ball fifty when the going is nice, because it proved to be in Chattogram, or to knuckle down and endure in Dhaka, to a level that none of England’s personal top-order might replicate. Shanto’s 46 not out from 47 balls projected an ideal air of permanence that freed up his colleagues to take the sport on, and each Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin Ahmed arrived within the center flushed with confidence from their very own bowling exploits. It all proved to be an irresistibly moreish components.

None of this modifications the truth that England are the staff of the period in white-ball cricket. Buttler is the excellent T20 batter of his era, and Jofra Archer’s chic show at Dhaka reaffirmed a matchless vary of abilities – uncooked tempo, recreation smarts and canny variation – that, thrillingly, all nonetheless appear to be in working order after his 18-month harm lay-off.

Buttler’s males are able to significantly better than they’ve produced prior to now two matches, however in an period of fixture overload – with one World Cup simply secured and one other quickly to be defended – and with the small issues of the IPL and the Ashes dominating the instant ideas of their senior gamers, can they discover sufficient desperation to keep away from a notable loss? Either manner, Bangladesh on this temper may not give them a lot leeway.

Form information

Bangladesh WWLLW (final 5 accomplished matches, most up-to-date first)

England LLWWW

In the highlight – Rony Talukdar and Ben Duckett

Rony Talukdar’s return to worldwide cricket, eight years after his one-off look in 2015, was one of many extra intriguing picks in latest instances. Aside from it clearly being on benefit, the call-up was tangible proof of Bangladesh’s dedication to advertise its BPL stars, and that new coverage has paid off handsomely prior to now two video games. Talukdar’s contribution to these wins arguably transcends his precise returns, nonetheless – notably at Chattogram, the place he drilled his first ball again within the big-time clear by way of the covers for 4, en path to an agenda-setting 21 from 14. He has helped to set the tone, however one thing extra substantial would assist to make sure this recall is greater than only a momentary reward.

Of all of the specialist batters in England’s ill-balanced line-up, Ben Duckett arguably has probably the most to realize from his heightened publicity. With credit score within the financial institution throughout codecs – most notably from his sparky shows in Pakistan in final yr’s T20Is, and his enthusiastic Bazballing on the prime of the Test batting order – he is setting himself up as a World Cup bolter, notably given his sweep-dominant approach in spinning circumstances. To that finish, his shows on this collection up to now have been a professional success – 20 from 13 balls in Chattogram the place “it went all right and then I missed one”, then a run-a-ball 28 in Mirpur, which was a extra aggressive contribution than it maybe appeared on the time. If he can end this marketing campaign on a private excessive, he may but power his manner into the dialog come October.

Team news – Few modifications in offing

Mehidy’s thrilling introduction in Dhaka gave a successful line-up an additional innovative with the ball and, because it turned out, the bat too. Assuming the pitch affords comparable help to the spinners, there is not any cause to vary this successful XI.

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

Not loads of wriggle-room in England’s threadbare squad. Archer may nicely be stood down, having proven as soon as once more that he is firmly on monitor for full health. Mark Wood is the apparent man to return on a pitch that supplied extra for the quicks than Chattogram had. Reece Topley is the opposite choice, assuming he is recovered from the niggle that has stored him on the sidelines. Buttler slipped down the order in recreation two. It stays to be seen if that experiment is repeated.

England (doable): 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Curran, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.

Pitch and circumstances – Another turner in prospect

There’s going to be loads of spin and uneven bounce, if the Dhaka pitch for the second T20I is something to go by. And if that favours the hosts, then Buttler says England are joyful to take the learnings from such circumstances, notably with the 50-over World Cup in thoughts. The climate in Dhaka will go from heat to gentle in the midst of the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

  • Bangladesh have achieved a clear sweep in an T20I collection of three or extra matches simply as soon as of their historical past, towards Ireland in 2012. They have beforehand received three or extra matches in a T20I rubber on two different events, in beating Australia 4-1 and New Zealand 3-2 in 2021-22.
  • Across codecs, England have misplaced their final three matches towards Bangladesh – their worst run on document.
  • Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

    Source web site: www.espncricinfo.com

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