Sports Reporter
Having won two of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan Tigers will confront the tourist in the third and last ODI with a great opportunity to whitewash them for the first time at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka today (Wednesday).
The confident Tigers will try their best for a clean sweep while Pakistan will try to register solitary win to get back their morale before the lone T20 match on April 24.
If Bangladesh can whitewash Pakistan their rating points will rise to 81 from 76 which will help the host increase their ranking while Pakistan will go down to eighth from seventh in the ranking. The equation of the point-table thus makes the match more important for the both sides.
Bangladesh showed brilliant team performance in the last two matches with the bat and bowl. Opener made a good start and the middle order did the rest of the job smoothly.
The dashing opener Tamim Iqbal in his own colour hit back- to- back centuries while the most consistent batsman Mushfiq was also in a good form smashing a ton and a fifty. Shakib did not get enough opportunity to bat as Tamim and Mushfiq did the entire job but he seemed also better as he batted in the last two matches.
Opener Soumya is also in form but he has to stay more at the pitch. Tigers World Cup hero Mahmudullah who failed to show up in the series may want to get back on runs.
With the ball, spinner Arafat Sunny is the most successful bowler with four wickets in two matches and he will lead the Tigers in spin with Shakib Al Hasan. In pace attack skipper Masrafe can be relaxed with Taskin and Rubel as they bowled to win the series.
Mashrafe has also alternative choice of Nasir, Sabbir and Mahmudullah who can bowl couple of overs to reduce the pressure.
Regarding the match skipper Mashrafe said, "We had near-perfect performance in the first two games. If we can continue in this manner, we have a chance to make it 3-0."
On the other hand, in the batting line-up Pakistan may urge better performance from the experienced batsmen Hafeez and Fawad Alam who are out of runs.
While the senior batsmen are out of runs, the good news for the Pakistan is their young talents Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan and Saad Nasim who are showing their skills match by match and they can change the memento in favour of the tourist.