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The seven-year unbeaten streak at home is gone already. England took that record of Bangladesh, toyed with it, and threw it away on Friday and now as the third and final One-Day International of the series awaits in Chattogram, the Tigers look for consolation and probably some pride.
It has been nine years since Bangladesh were clean-swept in a home series. It was against Sri Lanka in February 2014, and there could have been another in June against India but rain ensured abandonment of the final match of that three-match series, ending the series 2-0 in the visitors’ favour.
Thus, after winning at least one game in 14 home series on the trot, of whom in 13 the trophy stayed home, Bangladesh now aim to save grace with a win in Chattogram today.
The task will definitely not be. The English batting lineup has shown grit and flamboyance in their games in Dhaka, and if the past is anything to look at, the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram will definitely dish up a pitch in which batters are likely to thrive.
Bangladesh spin-bowling Rangana Herath agreed with that notion.
“It is a different surface, so we are not expecting the same thing to happen in this pitch. We are trying to get the best out of the team. Comparatively, Mirpur has more advantage for spinners,” he said on Sunday.
In the last match at this stadium, India piled up 409-8, courtesy of a double century from Ishan Kishan, and in reply, Bangladesh fell to a timid 182.
Tamim Iqbal and co will definitely hope that such a scorecard does not return although their batting woes in this series have been pertinent, with only two batters managing to go past fifty – Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan.
Besides the form of Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, and skipper Tamim himself, a big concern for Bangladesh is Liton’s batting in the past two matches as the right-handed batter, who now assumes vice-captaincy on the field, has failed to reach double digits in both innings.
The concerns for Bangladesh grow larger because of the looming World Cup in India, which is now only months away. England are the strongest side the Tigers are facing in a bilateral series leading up to the mega-event, and such a thrashing in this series might end up having dire consequences.
Nonetheless, Herath believes otherwise but added that they still needed to come back strong in the final match of the series.
“There’s a lot to come after these two matches against England. We play against Ireland, and Afghanistan, leading up to the World Cup. This game is very important for us. We need to do our best in this game, leading up to the World Cup’s preparation. We need to come back strongly to do well in the last ODI against England,” the Sri Lankan said.
He also added that the batters needed to step up against the English attack.
“There will be challenges from spinners and fast bowlers. It looks a bit dry, in that case when the fast bowlers will have a bit of challenge. Same for spinners. As batters, we need to get to that challenge and react accordingly,” Herath stated.
Bangladesh will hope that Taskin Ahmed keeps on the form he showed in the first two matches, as he was the most threatening bowler for the hosts by far, and in the process impressing the England team.
“He’s (Taskin) impressed everybody, not just me. The whole team have said how well he’s bowled. He’s bowling quickly, hitting good lengths. I think in the first game, he showed our seam-bowling group where to bowl, really. We took a lot from his performance and the areas that he bowled. Hopefully, he doesn’t run amok this game and take loads of wickets,” England pacer Mark Wood said on Sunday.
While they hope for Taskin to not run riot, England are looking for nothing but a win despite their series win, which Wood thinks is ‘massive’.
“Massive deal (to beat Bangladesh at home), especially with where we’re going to go for the World Cup. We’re going to come across similar conditions and this team always wants to push forward, and never wants to stand still. The trust in each other is massive in this group. The times where we’ve won, we’ve had huge trust in each other,” he said.
Bangladesh will try to spoil England’s clean sweep party and save some grace, while the English will try to ensure they reach the T20I series with a 100% win record on the tour.
