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Bangladesh aim to finish on high in 5th T20 against Kiwis tomorrow

Staff Reporter Football 2021-09-09, 10:20pm

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 DHAKA - Bangladesh aim to continue their winning
spree ahead of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup as they take on the visiting New
Zealand for the fifth and final game tomorrow (Friday) at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Cricket Stadium.  

     The match which starts at 4PM will be aired live on Gazi TV and T
Sports.  

     The Tigers had already clinched the series, following their six-wicket
victory in the fourth game that gave them the unbeatable 3-1 lead. The hosts
won the first match by seven wickets and second one by four runs before
tasting a 52-run defeat in the third game.  

    Though they toiled for their victory in the fourth game, chasing a target
of just 94 but got all the things right as they confirmed the back-to-back
series victory at home over Australia and New Zealand.  

    It was their first ever series victory in this format against those two
teams, which they thought would boost them up in the upcoming Twenty20 World
Cup in Oman and Dubai, to be held from October 17 to November 14.  

     The Tigers had no series scheduled ahead of the World Cup apart from
setting up a conditioning camp in Oman, a week before the tournament. So the
fifth game against New Zealand tomorrow would be their last International
game. Bangladesh have two practice matches ahead of the World Cup.  

     Bangladesh however would have to play the last game of the series
without ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was rested after his old finger
injury disturbed him throughout the series. Therefore Shakib's wait for going
past Lasith Malinga as the highest wicket-taker of the T20 format has been
extended. Shakib needs two wickets to eclipse Malinga. Bangladesh also could
rest Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman and Nasum Ahmed for the last match.  

     Captain Mahmudullah Riyad said they would try to continue the winning
spree despite those players after confirming their series as they want to
make the series scoreline 4-1.  

     "The credit for the series win goes to the team management and boys.
There is one more opportunity and hopefully, we will regroup together and try
to win the game," Mahmudullah said.  

     New Zealand though lost their first ever T20 series to Bangladesh, they
had little to regret. The result didn't show but they fought neck-to-neck
against Bangladesh on this slow and extremely tough pitch.  

     Moreover in this squad, they had no players of their main team, which
would play the Twenty20 World Cup. So the series was a case of learning for
the young and inexperienced players of this squad. But their skipper Tom
Latham said they want to finish on high, winning the fifth and final game
tomorrow.  

     "I am pleased the way we could take it to the last over (in the fourth
game)," New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said.  

     "We lost quick wickets and it was hard to keep the momentum going. The
way we have been able to adjust slightly on different surfaces, a young group
who hasn't played much international cricket, and a lot of us haven't played
here, we hope to put a near-perfect performance in the fifth game."  

     As per the stat, the two teams so far locked horns in 14 matches with
Kiwis winning 11 and Bangladesh the rest of the three-which all came in this
series.  

     However, the Tigers' stat in T20 cricket still looked not up to the
mark. They so far played 112 matches and won 41. They had lost a staggering
number of 69 matches while two matches fetched no result.  

     Bangladesh squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan,
Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Afif Hossain,
Naim Sheikh, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Patwari, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur
Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Sheikh Mahedi
Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Nasum Ahmed .  

New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (capt, wk), Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell
(wk), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Blair Tickner, Will Young. BSS