With both teams having won one series each, the only Twenty20 International between Bangladesh and West Indies, which is scheduled to begin at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at 6:00 pm today, promises to provide the month-long tour a fitting end.
The game will be shown live on Channel 9 and state-run television BTV.
The visitors, despite having lost the closely-contested one day international series, will be the favourites going into today’s game. While the West Indies failed to perform as a collective unit in most of the ODI matches, there was however some individual performances that hinted at the potential of the team.
Kieron Pollard’s whirlwind 85 off 74 in the last ODI included eight sixes and almost took the game and the series away from Bangladesh. Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy took the visitors home in the third and fourth matches respectively, whereas off-spinner Sunil Narine rediscovered his form in the ODI series. Since it’s a shorter format today, any one of those performances could swing the match in West Indies’ favour.
“You know we are the T20 champions and we are going to come out on Monday and play like that,” said Sammy at the end of the fifth ODI on Saturday.
The main concern for the visitors would be their top order. All the three openers used by the West Indies seemed vulnerable against the Bangladesh spinners with the feared Chris Gayle averaging just 14 in the ODIs.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, will be looking to carry their momentum from the ODI series into the T20 game. Their spin brigade picked up 27 wickets in the series and consistently choked the West Indian batsmen.
Shohag Gazi, who has impressed throughout the tour will be expected to make his debut alongside Anamul Haque. The hosts will be without ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is the second highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in T20s for Bangladesh. Big hitting all-rounder Ziaur Rahman might also feature in the playing eleven.
It is still unclear whether Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who suffered from a muscle tear during the ODI series, will play today. “I’ll take a decision after an assessment tomorrow morning ( Monday). I obviously won’t play if I think it may lead to a worse situation,” Mashrafe told The Daily Star yesterday.
The Tigers have had a miserable run in T20 cricket so far. They lost four of their last five T20Is, including one against The Netherlands. The three times they faced West Indies though, they won twice. West Indies, on the other hand, have won four of their last five games, the last one being the final of the ICC World Twenty20.
Having won the ODI series, Mushfiqur’s men will hope to go one step further and beat the West Indies at the game that they are most comfortable with. The West Indies, for their part, will be looking to brush aside the series defeat with a win in their last international match of the year.