Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 2018, 3rd ODI, Preview: Hamilton Masakadza's men hope to avoid yet another whitewash

Bangladesh will look to continue their impressive show.

Published - 25 Oct 2018, 18:42 IST | Updated - 25 Oct 2018, 18:42 IST

2 Min Read

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will lock horns for one final time in the three-match ODI series on Friday. With the series already decided, this is supposed to be a dead rubber. But with the World Cup looming, Bangladesh will be keen to take this as an opportunity to try out some players while their opponents have nothing but to salvage pride from this encounter.

The tourists have shone momentarily like they did in South Africa and have let the game slipped soon. They were comfortably placed at the halfway stage in the first innings in the last game but the middle-order failed to capitalise on the good work done by Brendan Taylor. This is one last chance for them to gain some confidence before the Test series gets underway next week.

Mashrafe Mortaza, on the other hand, was delighted after a clinical win in Chittagong and the same venue will host the third and final ODI. It will be interesting to see if they will rest some of their players and test the bench strength. With the team looking settled and the opening combination firing after a long time, they might want the same group of players another go at the struggling opposition.

Team Combinations

Bangladesh

Fazle Mahmud will be lucky to get yet another opportunity despite failing to get off the mark in his first couple of ODIs. Rubel Hossain might come in for Mustafizur Rahman as he deserves some rest ahead of the Test series while Abu Hider Rony is also in contention to play. The batting line-up should be tinkered with much as they’ve gelled nicely to post decent totals on the board.

Probable XIs: Liton Das, Imrul Kayes, Fazle Mahmud/Ariful Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain/Abu Hider Rony, Nazmul Islam.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe have no option but to look for their best XI. Taylor found some much-needed form finally in the previous game and same was the case with Sikandar Raza but none of them played a big knock. They took a brave call to bench Craig Ervine which didn’t work and in every probability he will return to the team. Elton Chigumbura should make way for him.

Probable XI: Cephas Zhuwao, Hamilton Masakadza (c), Brendan Taylor (wk), Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Peter Moor/Tarisai Musakanda, Brandon Mavuta, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara.

Focus will be on

Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)

Rahim found his groove in the last game after getting out early in the series opener. There is seldom a series which goes without a big score from the veteran and this encounter might just witness a typical Rahim masterclass. He never lets his team down and the way he batted during the Asia Cup was admirable. Rahim’s experience always counts while batting and the youngsters are learning quickly with him around.

Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)

Sikandar Raza proved his all-round worth to the team in the previous match. His confidence will be high after a decent outing and this is where he is dangerous. Batting at number six, Raza could be a destructive finisher for Zimbabwe and also plays a waiting game in case of a top-order collapse which is more often the case. Even with the ball in hand, he returned with the figures of 3/43 the other day and the same kind of performance is expected from him.