Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey
It was eighth vs tenth in the T20I rankings on Sunday, but it didn’t seem that way. The way Afghanistan dismantled Bangladesh, it felt like a battle between fourth and tenth instead. It was a systematic, clinical and ruthless display by the Afghans against a sorry Bangladesh side that continues to be plagued with inconsistency.
Ahead of their historic first Test against India, can Afghanistan seal the T20I series tonight and add another achievement to their international cricket resume? One possible cause for concern that they would like to rectify tonight is their middle overs batting, where they notched up just 41 runs in the middle eight overs in the first T20I. If a miracle occurs and Bangladesh bowl well at the death, Afghanistan could be found short. However, their spinners are the envy of many cricketing nations around the world, and will back themselves to conceded low totals, especially in times of need.
I can rant on about the problems in the Bangladesh cricket set up, but I don’t have two spare days right now… The Tigers lost the first T20I with such ease that it could result in some team changes, however, the biggest changes required are decent death bowling, and somehow finding the ability to tackle the quality Afghanistan spin attack. They have enough experience in their ranks to fight back, but if they display any of the clueless cricket we saw on Sunday, they can kiss this series goodbye.
Key to an Afghanistan win
All five Afghanistan bowlers took at least one wicket on Sunday, with Bangladesh scoring nearly a third of their runs against Shapoor Zadran. Afghanistan spun the Bangladeshis into a web bigger than you’ll see in central Australia, even with Australia known as “spider country”
Ahead of the 1st T20I, there was a lot of focus on the quality spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. The focus was very much justified, with these three combining for 6/54 off 12 overs, giving Bangladesh no chance of chasing 167. Even something slightly similar in the 2nd T20I will render it highly unlikely Bangladesh will even reach 130.
Also, can Afghanistan put a more polished batting performance? After 15 overs, they were crawling at 96/4 against an underperforming Bangladesh attack, before an onslaught of 71 runs in the last five got them to 167. It might be too risky to rely on late order hitting to get them to a big score again, so the onus is on the top and middle order to keep momentum going right throughout the innings.
Key to a Bangladesh win
Tactically on Sunday, Bangladesh fell short again, which was surprising under the leadership of their greatest ever cricketer. On a pitch suited to spin, Bangladesh played one seamer too many, and even worse, didn’t bowl Mahmudullah again after two in his first over.
In the 2nd T20I, Bangladesh need to restrict Afghanistan in the first 15 overs, just as they did on Sunday, with a focus on stump-to-stump spin bowling. However, their death bowling needs to be much better – if they can concede anywhere near 71 tonight, the series is as good as gone, as you just can’t trust their batsmen to have a big game.
Speaking of their batting, if they have the chance to bat first, they must take it. In a series played in conditions such as these, runs on the board are paramount, and Bangladesh may fancy their chances of having a better outing whilst setting a score, instead of chasing. However, whether they bat first or second, rotation of the strike is vital, something they have consistently struggled with for years.
It’s now or never for Bangladesh.
Predicted teams
Afghanistan, after a convincing win, will most likely stick with the same XI.
Afghanistan XI: 1. Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2. Usman Ghani, 3. Asghar Stanikzai (c), 4. Najibullah Zadran, 5. Mohammad Nabi, 6. Samiullah Shenwari, 7. Shafiqullah, 8. Rashid Kham 9. Karim Janat, 10. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11. Shapoor Zadran
For Bangladesh, I believe one of the seamers could be replaced by Mehidy Hasan. It could be Abul Hasan, who was just so expensive on Sunday. Also, Soumya Sarkar could replace Mossadek Hossain, who struggled badly with the bat in the 1st T20I.
Bangladesh XI: 1. Tamim Iqbal, 2. Liton Das, 3. Shakib Al Hasan (c), 4. Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5. Mahmudullah, 6. Sabbir Rahman, 7. Soumya Sarkar, 8. Mehidy Hasan, 9. Abu Jayed, 10. Rubel Hossain, 11. Nazmul Hossain
Stats and Facts
- This will be the third T20I between the two sides. Both teams have one win each to date.
- Out of seven international matches between the sides, Bangladesh only have a slight advantage of four wins to three. Five of these matches have been played in Bangladesh.
- Shakib Al Hasan needs one wicket to reach the double of 500 wickets and 10,000 runs across formats. He will be the quickest by far in terms of matches played (301). The other two are Jacques Kallis and Shahid Afridi, who needed over 500 matches to reach this mark.
- Rashid Khan became the equal second quickest to 50 T20I wickets (31 matches).
- Afghanistan have previously won three bilateral T20I series against a Test nation. All three have come against Zimbabwe.
Prediction
I predict this game will be closer than the first T20I, but at the moment, Afghanistan look more assured. They have a superior spin attack, and I believe this will deliver them a series win.
It will take a special performance by Bangladesh to keep this series alive.
