Bangladesh v England, 3rd ODI, Chittagong – Preview
If the lead-up to the three-match One-Day International series between Bangladesh and England centred around security matters, the two days before the deciding match, in Chittagong on Wednesday (October 12), have been about the on-field fracas in Sunday’s second ODI.
There was Jos Buttler v Bangladesh. Then Ben Stokes v Bangladesh. Followed by regret on Buttler’s part, and penalties and warnings from Javagal Srinath, the ICC match referee. And, if you thought it was all done and dusted, Trevor Bayliss has since come out and said the England boys “will not back down” if provoked again.
With one team very proud of its recent home record and desperate to protect it, and another geed up to make a mark at the start of a long tour of the sub-continent – no doubt, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 result in Adelaide is also fresh in memory – there is a lot at stake here. And, if the rain that has kept everyone indoors in Chittagong – the pitch has been under covers for three days now – stays away, a heated exchange can be expected.
The cricket in the two games so far has been hard, and the team that ended up on the losing side on both occasions could well have finished on the other end of the result.
In the first game, played on Friday, England rode on Stokes’ 101 to put up 309 for 8, but Imrul Kayes (112) and Shakib Al Hasan (79) took Bangladesh to 271 for 4 before it lost the last six wickets for just 17 more runs, giving England a 21-run win and a 1-0 lead.
Then, on Sunday, England had Bangladesh down at 169 for 7 in the 42nd over before Mashrafe Mortaza slammed a 29-ball 44 to take them to 238 for 8. Not a huge score, and despite going 26 for 4 in the tenth over, at various times England looked on course, before being stopped 34 short, Mortaza picking up four wickets. One-all, therefore, seems a fair reflection.
From Bangladesh’s point of view, Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman have faltered with the bat, and it would want the two experienced hands to come good in the decider. But it has been well served by all its other players at various stages, and though Taijul Islam has been drafted back into the squad, Bangladesh is unlikely to tamper with the combination that won it the second game, fitness permitting. The return of Nasir Hossain has added an extra dimension to Bangladesh’s game, the off-spinning all-rounder scoring a run-a-ball 27 and returning 1 for 29 from his ten overs in the second game. Similarly, Taskin Ahmed’s return after suspension for a faulty bowling action has also largely gone well.
England’s batsmen haven’t looked out of place despite the unfamiliar conditions either, with James Vince the only one to have failed two times out of two. Hearteningly for England, both its debutants, Jake Ball and Ben Duckett, have shown signs of class, and despite the inexperience – in general and especially in these conditions – the visitor has the firepower to go the distance and spoil Bangladesh’s plans of winning its seventh bilateral home ODI series in a row.
With all that at stake, and the embers of the second ODI set to be stoked, this one should be a needle contest – weather permitting.
Teams (from):
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Al-Amin Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam.
England: Jason Roy, James Vince, Sam Billings, Ben Duckett, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Jake Ball, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett.
