Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, 2nd T20I, Preview: Hosts aim spoiler for Mashrafe's final T20I

The final match of the Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka will mark the final T20I for their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza. Bangladesh have had an impressive outing on the tour thus far. Despite not being tipped to be competitive enough prior to the start of the tournament, they have managed to stun the hosts with series leveling wins in the Test series and the ODI series.

Now, they find themselves in a situation wherein they have an opportunity to cap off the impressive tour with another series leveling win in the final T20I. They will be keen to give their skipper Mashrafe Mortaza a winning send off. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will be trying to play the perfect spoilers on the occasion. Moreover, they have a reputation to uphold.

They have been in a scintillating form in the T20Is, having won their last two international series against Australia and South Africa in the shortest format. After having fared in a rather disappointing way in the Tests and ODIs, a clinical whitewash over the visitors in the T20Is will give them a lot of confidence. They are yet to come up with a complete performance during the series, albeit they got very close to it in the last match.

Focus will be on:

Mashrafe Mortaza

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will have all the limelight on him in the final match of the tour. Playing his last T20I, he will try to take his side to a win in his final appearance in Bangladeshi T20 colors. On the personal front, he has seen a dip in form in the recent past. He has not been in the wickets column as much as his caliber would suggest. Also, his last notable performance – in an all-round show – came back in the limited overs series that Bangladesh played against England at home. He is long overdue for an impressive show.

Lasith Malinga

Slinga Malinga will be another key player to watch out for. He will not only have the eyes of the Sri Lankan fans glued to him but also the fans of the Indian Premier League. Soon after the match, he is expected to fly down to India to join the Mumbai Indians camp in the IPL. Recently, in the previous ODI, he showed glimpses of vintage Malinga as he bowled yorkers with perfection to return with 2 wickets to his name. However, it was his economy that was on the higher end.

Sabbir Rahman

Sabbir Rahman is one of the most talented young talents from the Bangladesh side. Moreover, he loves the shortest of the game the most and that makes him the player to watch out for. He will be holding the key to the middle order chances for the visitors in the short series. For the statisticians, he was the only batsman to have scored a century in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) this year. In addition to that, his fifties in the recently concluded ODI series against the same opposition makes him a top bid for being the star performer.

Sri Lanka – Team Combination

There is absolutely no reason why the hosts will tinker with the winning combination. Unless there is a last moment injury scare, Sri Lanka will play the same line up for the match. Kusal Perera and Upul Tharanga look steady at the top order and had got starts early in the innings in the first match. Dilshan Munaweera will be under pressure to perform. Chamara Kapugedara is yet to impress ever since his return to the team.

Asela Gunaratne and Seekkuge Prasanna look in decent form with the bat and the ball. The bowling department is absolutely steady with Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara delivering goods perfectly. Vikum Sanjaya, who was expected to be the weaklink in the side, has also performed decently in the previous match. The only change that they might ponder over is drafting in Lakshan Sandakan in place of Sanjaya.

Bangladesh – Team Combination

Bangladeshi camp is left with an option of trying the players they benched in the first match. They raised quite a few eyebrows when they did not field their leading spinner of recent times – Mehedi Hasan – in the line up. Hasan might be drafted in the line up in place of a certain Taskin Ahmed who had very little say in the first T20I. Meanwhile, young spinner Mohammad Saifuddin was the surprise inclusion in the side.

He did a fair job but could have surely had a better T20I debut than what he did. In the batting department. Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman have got the starts but are due for a big score. Experienced players in the middle order need to step up to the occasion. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan missed out in the first T20I and were dismissed cheaply. Tamim Iqbal misses out with a back injury. Imrul Kayes comes in. Mehedi Hasan in for Taskin Ahmed.

Toss: Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat

Upul Tharanga: ‘I’d have batted first as well. But it doesn’t matter as it is a good pitch. A really good opportunity to win the series. Hopefully, we restrict them under 150 and chase it down. We’re playing the same team.’

Mashrafe Mortaza: ‘We’ll bat first. In T20s, we find it hard to chase. That’s why we opted to bat first so that our batsmen can play freely. Hope to score a decent total and defend. Last night, I though 170-180 was a good total. It’s a similar pitch and we’re looking for a similar score. Feeling proud having played for Bangladesh for ten years. I would like to thank all the people.’

Playing XI:

Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera(w), Upul Tharanga(c), Dilshan Munaweera, Asela Gunaratne, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Chamara Kapugedera, Milinda Siriwardana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Vikum Sanjaya

Bangladesh: Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza(c), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman

StatAttack

8 – Number of matches Bangladeshi team has lost in a row in T20Is. This is their second worst losing streak.

3 – Number of Man of the Match awards won by Sabbir Rahman – the most for any Bangladeshi player.

41 – Number of T20I wickets taken by Mashrafe Mortaza – the most by any Bangladeshi bowler.