England vs Bangladesh, 20th Match, Group 1, Abu Dhabi, Oct 27 2021
Surprisingly, This will be the first T20I match between England and Bangladesh. Clashing for the first time in the format on Wednesday, they come out of different ends of the confidence scale from their last match: while Sri Lanka’s new generation batters stunned Bangladesh with a superb chase, England defeated West Indies in a dominant show with the ball.
England’s Batting and Bowling Department
Although England lost four wickets in the short chase, that wouldn’t have worried Eoin Morgan, as they preferred to shape their batting order to suit the situation. Already Jason Roy and Jos Buttler offer one of the most dangerous opening partners in the world, while a middle order consisting of Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Morgan remains strong for any bowling attack.
Moeen Ali and Tymal Mills spearheaded the destruction before Adil Rashid ran through the West Indies lower order with extraordinary figures of 4 for 2. England bowled West Indies out for 55, their second-lowest all-out total in T20Is, and the lowest total by a Test-playing nation in the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh’s Senior Players must step up
Bangladesh will be reliant on their experienced middle order of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and captain Mahmudullah. Although Shakib missed out on a good score against Sri Lanka at No. 3, it is unlikely he will not be in the runs for too long, as Mushfiqur finally struck a T20I fifty in the last game – his first in two years.
Mahmudullah has his work cut out too. He is among the runs but his captaincy was being questioned after he used himself and Afif Hossain for three overs against Sri Lanka’s left-hand batters, which eventually turned out to be big ones for the opponents. Bangladesh can’t afford too many such mistakes against England or in any of their remaining matches.
Bangladesh had said that they targeted reaching the semi-final this time, but for now they need to get going with a win first. England, meanwhile, look primed for another big performance.
Team News:
England
Injury/Availability Concerns: Mark Wood missed the first game of the tournament due to an ankle injury and it is not yet clear whether he has recovered in time for this game. Otherwise, England have a fit squad to pick from.
Probable XI:Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills
Bangladesh
Injury/Availability Concerns:There are currently no injury problems in the Bangladeshi camp which means they have a full 15-man squad to choose their eleven from.
Possible XI:Mohammad Naim, Liton Das/Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman