Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 3rd ODI, Mirpur - Preview

Although there’s plenty of cricket involving some of best sides in the world on at the moment, the third and final One-Day International between Bangladesh and Afghanistan at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday (October 1) should attract its fair share of attention.

Had Bangladesh won the second game as it had the first – albeit by a thin margin – the series would have been over and the final game would have been a dead rubber. But since Afghanistan’s two-wicket win over the No. 7 side in the world, the three-match series has come back to life.

The problem Bangladesh have had against Afghanistan, in both games, is that its batsmen, the middle order in particular, haven’t gotten a measure of the likes of Dawlat Zadran, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan. Also, with Asghar Stanikzai, the skipper, rotating his bowlers smartly, Bangladesh’s batsmen haven’t managed to get stuck into them.

In the first ODI, barring Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, none of the other batsmen were able to provide substantial contributions. In the second, Mosaddek Hossain, the debutant, made his mark with an unbeaten 45 to carry the hosts to 208, which ultimately proved too few.

Bangladesh nearly fell short in the first game as well, and in the second it faltered in the face of a spirited batting display from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan, too, hasn't delivered at its best with a number of its batsmen – Mohammad Shahzad in particular – not getting off the blocks. Should it manage to do so it could just pull off another win, because its bowling has fired beautifully so far.

Bangladesh, however, has the personnel to wrap up a series win, but those big-name players, especially the batsmen, need to come to the party quickly.

**Teams (from)Bangladesh:**Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Taskin Ahmed.

**Afghanistan:**Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Fareed Ahmad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ihsanullah Karim Janat, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Najibullah Zadran, Naveen-ul-Haq, Nawroz Mangal, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shenwari, Shabir Noori.