After defeating Ireland 2-0 in the Test series, Bangladesh face their rivals in the first T20I of a three-match series. The series begins Thursday, November 23, at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram. The home team are confident and will aim to execute their plans well. The hosts want to fine-tune their skills and combinations before the T20 World Cup, which takes place early next year. Bangladesh struggled in the previous T20 World Cup and do not want to repeat that disappointment.
In white-ball cricket, Bangladesh are quite a threat, especially when playing in familiar conditions. Ireland, too, can be a side that can prove to be a thorn for the hosts to decipher. The visitors, who play more white-ball cricket than red-ball due to their recent induction into Tests, have a lot of specialists on their side, starting right from Paul Stirling at the top of the order. The senior batter is renowned across the world for his swashbuckling style at the top of the order, and for his willingness to take even the most famous bowlers inside the powerplay.
With the pitch in Chattogram assisting batters and spinners in equal measure, Bangladesh will look to strengthen their skillset in the middle overs, both while batting and bowling. In the former department, they will look to be more expressive and not get tied down to simply rotating the strike when the field has been spread. In the last six overs of the game, they can take on the bowlers, but the aim and intention to do so must be in their veins throughout the encounter. Ireland can try out some of the spinners in their unit to see how well they can exploit these conditions.
Predicted Teams
BAN: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Nurul Hasan, Litton Das (c) (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Md Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam.
IRE: Benjamin Calitz, Paul Stirling (c), Tim Tector, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Jordan Neill, George Dockrell, Barry McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Craig Young.
Key Players
Mahedi Hasan (BAN): All-rounder Mahedi Hasan (not to be confused with Mehidy Hasan Miraz) is one of the stars for Bangladesh in this format. He is known to be sharp with his off-spin, adjusting his pace well to not give batters the time and place needed to slog it to the on side. With the bat, he can rotate the strike comfortably and fill in the void in the middle overs with his calm and composed demeanour.
George Dockrell (IRE): All-rounder George Dockrell was one of the first superstars to come out of Ireland, and alongside Stirling, he has held his nerve and retained his place in the squad all these years later. Dockrell offers a lot of variety with his left-arm spin, in which he rarely gives batters room to free their arms. He can make use of this pitch and turn the ball too. With the bat in hand, he can be destructive both inside the powerplay and also towards the death.
Match Prediction
Bangladesh are far superior to their opponents owing to the quality and experience in their ranks. Ireland, for their part, need to focus a lot on making the most of the fielding restrictions before looking to encounter spin. In the shortest format of the sport, any side which is explosive right from the beginning will have an upper hand, and Bangladesh’s experienced unit, led by wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das, aspires to do so. Ireland may have some shortcomings, especially with regard to support given to Stirling in the top order.
