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Bangladesh will lock horns with their Caribbean counterparts for the last match of the three-match Twenty20 International series in Guyana today. The fate of the match is uncertain due to inclement weather.
Weather.com shows predictions about possible thunderstorms from 12 AM to 12 PM in Guyana on July 7. After that, there are forecasts about isolated thunderstorms. Rain already scrapped the first T20I of the series at Dominica. In the second T20I, Bangladesh were heavily beaten by West Indies, and the third one could hand the Tigers a chance to level the series, but the weather might not.
If the game goes on, Bangladesh will have to solve some complex puzzles for a satisfactory result. First, the opening pair. In the washed-out match, Munim Shahriar and Anamul Haque started the innings for Bangladesh, and in the second, Munim missed out due to injury, which pushed Liton Das to the top.
But both pairs failed miserably. In the second match, where Bangladesh were chasing 194, the openers added only eight runs. Anamul and Liton got out in consecutive deliveries from Obed McCoy. In the first T20I, the opening pair lasted for only two runs as Munim got out for just two in the third ball of the match.
Solving the opening puzzle is key as Mahmudullah will be in a pickle to pick the lesser evil for the top spots.
The second puzzle is the captain himself. Mahmudullah often comes to bat at number five or six, though he batted at number four in the last match. Since his half-century against Papua New Guinea in the ICC T20 World Cup last year, he has only one 30+ score. This year, he has played four T20Is, and his total run is 50. Though he is an all-rounder, he hardly bowls. In his last five appearances, he has bowled only two overs.
Mahmudullah is not one of the best fielders on the team and drops catches regularly. At the official age of 37, Mahmudullah is lacking in both the performance and personality to lead a side struggling in the shortest format.
The third puzzle is finding a proper mix of bowling. A few days ago, Bangladesh batting coach Jamie Siddons said that the bowlers must restrict the opposition to a smaller total because the Tigers do not have enough firepower to chase big totals.
But in the second T20I, most of the bowlers were expensive. Taskin went for 46 runs in his three overs, Shakib gave away 38 in his four overs, and 23 of those came in his last over. Mustafiz was wicketless and gave 37 runs in four overs.
Amid the chaos, Mosaddek Hossain managed a maiden-over wicket, but was not brought into the attack again due to a match-up scenario.
“I would have given Mosaddek more overs, but there were two right-handers at the crease, and one of them was Rovman Powell. The leg-side boundary was short too. I didn’t want to take the risk,” Mahmudullah explained after the match.
At Guyana, the wicket tends to be on the slower side, and Bangladesh might opt for another spinner instead of picking three pacers in the team.
Bangladesh must solve most of the puzzles to earn a satisfactory result in the last T20I so that they can carry the momentum into the ODI series coming up. Otherwise, the tour will be an affair to forget for most.
