Pakistan will face Bangladesh at Chittagong Stadium for third and the final ODI of the series. Pakistan mesmerized Bangladesh in both previous ODIs as well as the one off T20 game. Though this is a dead rubber now, but Pakistan (who are looking for an improved ranking) will try their best to win the last game too. Considering the fact that Bangladesh have failed to cause any headaches for Pakistan, it’s likely that Pakistan will provide an opportunity to those, sitting out on the bench.
Final line-ups:
Pakistan
There is a solid possibility that Asad Shafiq, Abdur Rehman and Aizaz Cheema will make it to the final XI. As a result Sarfaraz Ahmad, Sohail Tanvir and Imran Farhat might miss out.
Tomorrow’s game is going to be a tester for out of form Shoaib Malik, probably his last chance to impress the selectors so that they may select him for the England Series.
Probable XI:
Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema
Bangladesh
Bangladeshi middle order showed a bit of resistance in the last game, they’ll be looking forward to restore the pride by trying and winning the last game thus it’s unlikely that we will see any hefty changes in the Bengali XI tomorrow. They’ll play their best available combination. Though they might reshuffle their batting order with last match’s centurion Nasir Hossain coming ahead of Mushfiqur and Shakib.
Probable XI:
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes , Shehriar Nafis, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib ul Hassan, Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza, Abdur Razzak, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain
Ground:
Chittagong features almost same conditions as Dhaka. Seamers will get some assistance earlier on but after that, it’s going to be the spinners’ game.
Batting will be a touch easier due to the better pace and bounce offered by the Chitagong track. Pakistani batting line up can well post a target around 280 runs. On the other hand Bangladeshi batsmen will have to lift their game big time if they want to achieve that 250 runs mark.
Key Players:
Mohammad Hafeez:
Pakistan’s highest runs scorer this year, Mohammad Hafeez has been a revelation ever since his comeback. He exhibited fair bit of form in last 2 ODIs but failed to convert them into biggies. He’ll be desperate to go out in the middle, latch onto his form and transform that good form onto the scoring sheet. Talking about his bowling: Bangladesh have got 6 left-handers in their bating line-up, ‘nuff said.
Shakibul Hassan:
Nasir Hossain has been in good form; well enough, but I still reckon Shakib as Bangla’s top seed player. He has bowled beautifully all along the series, also scored some runs last game but that inning didn’t have a direction. Shakib will try to be more impetus and positive next time around. If Bangladesh plan on to win tomorrow’s game; Shakib will have step up and prove his worth with both: bat and the ball.
Prediction:
Yet another victory for the visitors; Clean sweeping the Bangla boys.
GeoSuper