Bangladesh will play Afghanistan in the third and final match of the ODI series tomorrow (Tuesday) at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in an attempt to prevent an embarrassing whitewash.
T-sports and Nagorik TV will broadcast the match live, with kickoff at 6 p.m. (Bangladesh Time).
Afghanistan had an insurmountable 2-0 lead after Bangladesh lost the first ODI by five wickets and suffered another humiliating loss in the second match by 81 runs after being bowled out for 109.
After sweeping the three-match T20 series against the same opponent, the visiting Bangladeshi team entered the ODI series with a lot of confidence. However, they are about to experience the opposite outcome.
The reckless batting was the chief reason for their series debacle. While the same issue also hampered them in the T20 series, they somehow managed to win it but in ODI, they appeared to be clueless. In fact their ODI performance was dismal even before the Afghanistan series.
After those two defeats at the hands of Afghanistan, Bangladesh lost 10 ODIs in the last 11 matches, a stat that widely exposed their shaky state in a format, which was often dubbed as their strongest fortress.
Skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz therefore urged to rectify the batting in a bid to avoid series whitewash and to have a consolation victory.
“We needed to get partnerships at the top order. It would have been a different scenario. But no batter took responsibility, which was disappointing,” Miraz said. “We have one match left. We have to come back strongly. The batters need to improve and take responsibility,” he added.
The two sides met 21 times in ODI format with Bangladesh still having the upper-hand with 11 wins and 10 defeats. An Afghan victory would not only give them a whitewash but also level the win-loss ratio for the first time.
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