Bravo brothers outclass Tridents

Darren Bravo powered Red Steel to an imposing total, and then Dwayne Bravo and the spinners dismissed all the Tridents batsmen before they made 20 to secure a 72-run win

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren and Dwayne Bravo added 59 runs in 2.4 overs•Caribbean Premier League

Darren Bravo’s late flourish converted Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel’s middling score into an imposing one, and then his brother Dwayne and the spinners dismissed all the Barbados Tridents batsmen before they made 20 to secure a 72-run win at Queen’s Park Oval. The result improved Red Steel’s standing at the bottom of the league: they are now two wins away from catching Tridents at the top, with two games in hand.Red Steel had started steadily after choosing to bat, but with no great acceleration, and that platform eroded when Cameron Delport and William Perkins fell in the space of four balls. From 50 for 2 in 8.1 overs, Jacques Kallis and Darren Bravo built steadily, adding 75 in 9.1 overs. However, when Kallis lost his off stump to Ravi Rampaul for 49 off 43 deliveries Red Steel, at 125 for 3 with 16 balls left in the innings, needed a special finish.Darren Bravo was on 36 off 32 balls at the time but now he went into overdrive and smashed 44 off his last 12 deliveries, nearly a boundary a ball. He targeted the area between square leg and long-on and finished with seven sixes, adding 59 with his brother Dwayne, who scored 14 off the four balls he faced. Rampaul conceded 16 runs in the 18th over and 25 in the 20th, while Jason Holder went for 22 in the 19th over.The Tridents chase never took off. Misbah-ul-Haq was their top-scorer with 19 and their highest partnership – between Misbah and Shai Hope for the fourth wicket – was 26. They collapsed from 65 for 3 to 85 for 8 and were eventually dismissed for 112 in 18.4 overs. Dwayne Bravo claimed figures of 3 for 16 in 3.4 overs, and spinners Samuel Badree, Derone Davis and Johan Botha had combined figures of 11-0-64-5.

India drop Sehwag, call up Pujara

India have dropped Virender Sehwag for the first three matches of the five-ODI series against England, which begins on January 11 in Rajkot

Amol Karhadkar06-Jan-2013India have dropped Virender Sehwag for the first three matches of the five-ODI series against England, which begins on January 11 in Rajkot. The decision came after Sehwag was left out of the XI that beat Pakistan in an ODI in Delhi earlier in the day. India gave a maiden limited-overs call-up to Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 203 off 221 balls in a Ranji Trophy match last week.A BCCI source told ESPNcricinfo that this could well be the end of Sehwag’s limited-overs career. Sehwag has been dropped, said the source, because “he doesn’t figure in the plans for the 2015 World Cup”. Pujara has been brought in “to anchor the innings, especially in the wake of new rules”, which now allow a maximum of two bouncers per over and require a minimum of five fielders inside the circle at all times, which encourages more attacking bowling. The selectors have left it to the team management to decide Pujara’s batting position.Pujara’s inclusion was the only change to the squad that lost 1-2 to Pakistan, which meant MS Dhoni, India’s best batsman in the series, kept his captaincy despite calls from former selectors for fresh leadership. The sources said Dhoni’s captaincy didn’t go through much of a debate.Rohit Sharma was retained despite poor returns in ODIs of late. His last six scores were 5, 0, 0, 4, 4 and 4. Since the end of the series against West Indies in 2011, when he was the Man of the Series, Rohit has averaged 13 over 14 matches with one half-century. Rohit escaped the axe primarily because of “lack of alternatives”. He might not have made it had Manoj Tiwary been fit.Since his double-century against West Indies in December 2011, Sehwag has averaged 23 over 11 matches, including a top score of 96. Sehwag is possibly seen as the weaker fielder, which becomes significant keeping in mind the World Cup in Australia.Sehwag’s replacement, Pujara, is quick in the field and has been scoring runs. After his double-century that stunned Madhya Pradesh six days ago, Pujara said he knew his time was not far away. “That [ODI selection] is something that is not in my control,” Pujara had told ESPNcricinfo. “I have always performed in domestic one-dayers. I don’t need to worry about it. My time will come. One way or the other I will get my chance to play in the ODI team. I just need to keep performing.”The bowlers were all retained after they successfully defended 167 against Pakistan on Sunday, India’s fourth-lowest score batting first in an ODI win.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Cheteshwar Pujara, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Amit Mishra.

Warner ton powers Thunder home

Sydney Thunder’s captain courageous, David Warner, spanked an unbeaten century after sparkling in the field to lead his team to a six-wicket victory over the Melbourne Stars in the Twenty20 Big Bash League encounter at the MCG

The Report by Daniel Brettig17-Dec-2011Shane Warne dominated the build-up, David Warner dominated the match. Sydney Thunder’s captain courageous, Warner, spanked an unbeaten century after sparkling in the field to lead his team to a six-wicket victory over the Melbourne Stars in the Twenty20 Big Bash League encounter at the MCG.Combative but also imaginative, Warner marshalled his team intelligently to restrict the Stars to 7 for 153 on a pacey surface. He then crashed no fewer than six sixes in an innings of belligerence, peaking at the moment Warne entered the attack in front of a 23,496-strong Melbourne crowd that has adored him for nearly 20 years.Warner chose that over to launch into the most monstrous six over long-on, and heaved another in Warne’s second. He would bowl only two overs for 19 runs, no doubt restricted by the burns a cooking accident had inflicted on his bowling hand.The Thunder’s bowlers had given Warner a decidedly manageable target to aim at with a stolid ensemble, highlighted by the bowling of the unheralded Scott Coyte and Luke Doran. Doug Bollinger grabbed two wickets though he struggled for rhythm and speed.Chris Gayle accompanied Warner to the middle for the chase, an opening combination of awe-inspiring power. However Gayle’s stay was brief and painful – he was struck a blow on the gloves by the sharper-than-you-think James Faulkner, before being yorked by the left-armer’s slower ball before the first over was complete.Warner was thus left a free stage on which to perform, which he did with all the confidence of a man who must surely now be an integral part of the Australian Test team against India. Of the Stars’ bowlers only Faulkner escaped punishment, as Warner biffed them in a display that showed how far he had come as a batsman since his international Twenty20 debut against South Africa at the MCG in 2009. The England bowlers Luke Wright and Jade Dernbach went for a combined 71 from their eight overs.The only other talking point was the sight of wicketkeeper Matthew Wade wringing his hand after a painful blow on the gloves – his is a set of digits the national selectors would prefer not to be harmed while Tim Paine convalesces.A speedy, skiddy pitch had greeted the Stars batsmen after Warner sent them in upon winning the toss – a task performed by Elizabeth Hurley – and the pace offered value for strokes as well as possibilities for the bowlers. Bollinger struck first, causing Rob Quiney to miscue to mid-on, while Wade managed only 14 before top-edging a Doran delivery slanted across him to short fine leg.David Hussey and George Bailey added 41 and seemed to be setting the hosts on the path to a substantial tally, but Bollinger found a way past the flailing bat of the Tasmanian captain. Hussey’s striking was typically clean and powerful, including one Bollinger delivery swung many rows back into the Great Southern Stand.Coyte was delivering a fine spell, and his wickets either side of Hussey’s run-out kept the Stars in check. Hussey was clearly aggrieved at his own misjudgement, when he chanced a second run on the arm of Warner and lost conclusively.Wright added some useful late runs with a bevy of skimming blows, but the final total felt middling at best. Thanks to Warner, it was ultimately made to look considerably less than that.

Harbhajan rues losing crucial toss

Harbhajan Singh says his team was well-prepared for the series, but not for the damp pitch where the toss was vital, where the ball seamed and nipped around, and where a few stopped on the batsmen

Sidharth Monga at SuperSport Park16-Dec-2010Harbhajan Singh says his team was well-prepared for the series, but not for the damp pitch where the toss was vital, where the ball seamed and nipped around, while some stopped on the batsmen. He did not think a warm-up game would have made any difference because it wouldn’t have prepared them for what they received at the SuperSport Park where they lost nine wickets on a day in which four-and-a-half hours were lost to rain. He also believed his side could get South Africa out cheaply, and make up for their batting failure in the second innings. It was that kind of a day.To be fair to Harbahjan, he never suggested it was a designer pitch, and also gave credit where it was due. “We were quite prepared to play on a good track, but unfortunately with the rain and stuff it was quite a damp wicket,” he said. “The toss was very crucial to this match. We lost the toss. They bowled well in the given conditions, and they got the rewards. If we had won the toss, I think we would have done the same thing. We would have bowled first, then who knows what would have happened.”The bad news for India is that Harbhajan doesn’t expect similar assistance from the pitch later on in the Test. “I don’t know how long it will help the seamers,” he said. “But definitely there is a lot of movement after pitching, swinging and cutting both ways, because it is damp. If we get the sun tomorrow, obviously it will play a lot better than it did today. That’s what I think. I could be wrong.”We are playing on a wet wicket where the ball is seaming or nipping. A warm-up game would have been on a perfect cricketing wicket. You can’t complain about wickets, but we need to make sure we come back into the game.”Harbhajan put up a fight with the bat, scoring 27 off 25 balls, and adding 39 runs for the seventh wicket with MS Dhoni, which could yet prove to be crucial, but was disappointed at how he got out. Taking the third run, Harbhajan’s bat got stuck in the ground as he tried to slide it into the crease, and a smart back-flick from Mark Boucher converted a wide throw into a run-out.”If the ball was in my area, I was looking to hit, not just survive,” he said. “I was there to get runs, not to kill time. It’s important to get as many as you can in the first innings. It will make an impact when you go to bowl. If you score 150 or 200, whatever you get is good enough. We will go out and give our best shot.”Very disappointed the way I got out. My bat got stuck and I got run out. I was batting really well, I was hitting the ball really well. Unfortunately I couldn’t score too many runs. I hope in the next innings I don’t even have to bat. Hopefully the batsmen will score a lot of runs.”Harbhajan called on the spirit of this team that has bailed them out of more than a few crisis situations in recent times. “Obviously we had a bad day with the bat,” he said. “It’s not over yet. We have got to believe that we can go out and get their batsmen out. And once we go out to bat in the next innings, we will show what batting actually means.”As I said, it is not over yet. We played one session badly, it doesn’t mean we can’t come back. We have shown enough number of times that we are a team that likes to be challenged. We are in a situation where we have to go out and give our best, and try to get them out, and make sure they don’t go too far from us. Whatever has happened is gone, and I think we can make a match out of this.”

Australia extend lead to 277 after Butt ton

Salman Butt’s third Test century and Ricky Ponting’s decision not to enforce the follow-on should ensure the Hobart Test goes for the full five days

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at Bellerive Oval16-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSalman Butt made 102 as Pakistan fought hard, but they are well behind after three days•Getty Images

Salman Butt’s third Test century and Ricky Ponting’s decision not to enforce the follow-on should ensure the Hobart Test goes for the full five days, although Australia remain in control with a 277-run advantage. After the second day’s play, Ponting talked up the likelihood of making Pakistan bat again straight away, but his mind was changed when it took the bowlers 105.4 overs to dismiss them the first time.Eventually, after a 60-minute last-wicket partnership between Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif that spanned both sides of the tea break, Nathan Hauritz finished off Pakistan for 301, leaving them 218 short of Australia’s total. But Ponting wanted a break for his fast men and, despite the expected showers over the next two days, will set Pakistan a fourth-innings target.Australia reached 1 for 59 at stumps with Simon Katich on 33 and Ponting on 25 after Shane Watson departed in the second over for 1. Watson skied a catch when he miscued Mohammad Aamer and it was the first time since the summer-opening Gabba Test match that he had failed to post a half-century in either innings.Batting wasn’t difficult on the good surface, as demonstrated by the inability of Australia’s fast men to break through with the second new ball when they were trying to prise out Gul and Asif. Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson didn’t help their cause by abandoning the key principle of new-ball bowling – pitching up to allow swing – and banged it in far too short against the tailenders.The pair added 53 for the final wicket and provided some entertaining highlights, including three powerful sixes from Gul, who finished unbeaten on 38. Asif posted 29, his highest Test score, before he skied a catch to mid-on off Hauritz, who ended up with 3 for 96. The tail-end pluck only served to highlight how disappointing much of Pakistan’s batting effort was, with the exception of Butt and Shoaib Malik.Their fighting three-hour stand that lasted until after lunch was characterised by concentration and patience, two traits that Pakistan’s batsmen have so often lacked on this trip. Butt was strong off the back foot through the off side and Malik put in a good audition to permanently return to the Test line-up before the part-time spin of Katich split the pair up.Katich had Butt caught at slip for 102, which was his first Test century for four years and a much-needed one after he was responsible for running out Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal on the second afternoon. It was enough for Yousuf to brand Butt a “lazy” runner and although the captain wasn’t spotted cheering Butt’s century, he must surely have been pleased that his opener took on the extra responsibility after his lapses.The loss of Butt led to a collapse of 5 for 35 as Katich ran through the lower middle-order and finished with 3 for 34, his second-best Test figures. Katich tossed one up across the body of the right-hander Sarfraz Ahmed, who edged to slip for 1, and then drew Aamer into an exotic slog-sweep that flew high in the air and was swallowed by Watson at cover.In between, Hauritz had chipped in with the key wicket of Malik, who by then was Pakistan’s best hope of avoiding the follow-on. He threw his innings away with a lusty aerial drive that was taken at mid-on, and Hauritz followed with Danish Kaneria, caught at cover.Then came the last-wicket stand, which was Pakistan’s best in Tests for three years. Together with the efforts of Butt and Malik, it was enough to make Ponting think twice about the follow-on and the next two days will reveal if it was enough to save the match.

Stafanie Taylor out of T20Is against South Africa with shoulder injury

West Indies have called up Shawnisha Hector as her replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2025Senior batter Stafanie Taylor has been ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa with a shoulder injury, with West Indies calling up fast bowler Shawnisha Hector as her replacement.Taylor sustained the injury during the third and final ODI against South Africa in Barbados, where she was declared absent hurt as West Indies folded for 121in the DLS-adjusted chase of 288. South Africa won the ODI series 2-1, with Taylor scoring 30* and 17 in the first two ODIs.Hector, meanwhile, made her ODI debut in 2019, becoming the first woman from Antigua to play for West Indies. She is yet to feature in T20Is.The rest of the squad is largely unchanged. Experienced allrounder Chinelle Henry, who replaced Cherry Ann-Fraser in the ODI squad, will be part of T20Is as well.The three-match T20I series will begin on June 20 at the 3Ws Oval in Barbados while the remaining matches will be played at the same venue on June 22 and June 24.West Indies T20I squad: Hayley Matthews (capt), Shemaine Campbelle, Aaliyah Alleyne, Jahzara Claxton, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Realeanna Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Mandy Mangru, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack

President's Trophy off to a rocky start as SSGC pulls out

The department has stars such as Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed and Khurram Shehzad on its books

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2023Departmental cricket returned to Pakistan after five seasons with the start of the President’s Trophy earlier this week, and the resumption has not gone without incident.Days before the tournament was supposed to start, Sui Southern Gas Pipelines (SSGC), one of the major department sides, pulled out, arguing that running a cricket team was not a top priority at the moment. SSGC had stars such as Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed and Khurram Shahzad on their books, though these players weren’t likely to be involved given they are playing international cricket.”As you know the SSGC is a public-sector utility company listed on the country’s stock exchange,” an SSCG spokesperson told , which broke the story. “So, with the inception of the winter season, the utility’s top priority is to ensure uninterrupted gas supplies to its over three million customers. The management is focused on serving its customers while combating tough challenges in the backdrop of widening demand-and-supply gap.”That has left the tournament with seven sides, including traditional department giants such as SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines), WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) and KRL (Khan Research Laboratories). The tournament was brought back into the calendar after the return to the PCB last year of Najam Sethi, who replace Ramiz Raja as chairman. Sethi headed an interim administration in which one of the main objectives was to bring back the PCB constitution from 2014, as well as bring departments back into the game.Departments such as PIA (Pakistan International Airlines, the state carrier) and HBL (Habib Bank) were an integral part of the domestic set-up for nearly 50 years, providing first-class cricketers with a regular, stable income and the prospect of an employed future post their playing days. In 2018 Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, became the country’s Prime Minister, and, as patron of the PCB, had domestic cricket substantially restructured along the lines he had been advocating for years: a Sheffield-Shield-style set-up with six province-based sides playing the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Department cricket, to some criticism, was disbanded with players – hitherto employed by them and earning regular salaries – affected the most. A number of first-class cricketers stopped playing the game because there were drastically fewer sides to play for.Sethi has since been replaced by Zaka Ashraf in another interim set-up that is due to run until February. Ashraf’s administration does not have the power to change the domestic set-up and has gone ahead with the President’s Trophy. But interest in participation in the tournament has been lukewarm, with a few departments who had traditionally fielded teams opting to not do so again.The tournament is also being played under new regulations that have not yet been announced publicly but limit the first innings of games to 80 overs. That stipulation is said to have been made to encourage more positive cricket though it has had its critics. Bazid Khan, the former Pakistan batter, called it “utter nonsense” and said it was “devaluing” the first-class game.

Suzie Bates, Marizanne Kapp take Oval Invincibles into the Hundred final

Manchester Originals crash out after failing to complete tall chase inside 72 balls

Joe Boaden31-Aug-2022Oval Invincibles qualified for the Women’s Hundred final in style, racking up the highest score of this year’s competition as they brushed Manchester Originals aside by 32 runs at Emirates Old Trafford.Invincibles’ score of 163 for 2 was powered by an unbeaten 79 from captain Suzie Bates, and they can now look forward to the showcase match at Lord’s on Saturday against either the Southern Brave or Trent Rockets.In reply, Originals never got close, with the defeat ending their slim chance of qualification for the latter stages of the competition, despite 64 from Lizelle Lee in what could be her last match for the team.Seventeen-year-old Sophia Smale and Marizanne Kapp, who enjoyed a good day with bat and ball, were the pick of the bowlers, both finishing with two wickets as the Originals were restricted to 131 for 6 in a dominant display for the London-based side.Sophia Smale’s two early wickets extended Oval Invincible’s advantage•ECB/Getty Images

Knowing that a victory would guarantee them top spot and an automatic berth to the final, the Invincibles won the toss and chose to bat first, a decision justified by the fluent start provided by the experienced opening pairing of Bates and Lauren Winfield-Hill.The pair had raced to 62 in just 43 balls when Winfield-Hill was caught by Erin Burns in the deep of Emma Lamb for 25 but New Zealander Bates was undeterred, bringing up an impressive fifty off 33 balls, before Alice Capsey was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone for 18 trying to keep the runs flowing.That brought Kapp to the crease, returning to the team after missing the last two outings, and she and Bates played powerfully around the ground to elevate their team to an impressive 163 with an unbroken partnership of 67 from just 36 balls.Bates’ innings of 79 featured nine fours and two sixes, while Kapp’s 36 contained five boundaries, including one maximum.That total was just short of the overall record team total for the Women’s Hundred – 166 set by Southern Brave last year – but Invincibles will take satisfaction from knowing that their victory, coupled with the Brave’s shock defeat to Northern Superchargers earlier in the day means they will avoid having to play in Friday night’s Eliminator at Brave’s expense.Related

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Originals had an academic target to chase the runs down in 72 balls for a spot in the play-offs, which seemed unlikely when Emma Lamb was bowled by Smale without scoring. Bates and Kapp then combined again, as Amy Satterthwaite was caught by the former off the latter’s bowling for just two.Lee’s lone hand was set against the wickets that tumbled around her. Burns was bowled by Smale for five, Sophie Ecclestone was caught by Capsey off Kapp for one, and Daisy Mullan was run out for nine on her Hundred debut.Lee reached her fifty off 34 balls before finally perishing for 64 off 41, caught on the boundary off Eva Gray, to a warm ovation from the appreciative home crowd.Ami Campbell restored some pride in Originals’ performance, striking a couple of boundaries in a run-a-ball 23, but it wasn’t enough to save her side from elimination.

Prasidh Krishna tests positive for Covid-19

He is the fourth player from the KKR camp to test positive

Nagraj Gollapudi08-May-2021India and Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has tested positive for Covid-19. Krishna becomes the fourth player from the Knight Riders camp to test positive after Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier and Tim Seifert.It is understood that Krishna had cleared all the tests before coming out of the IPL bubble in Ahmedabad, where the Knight Riders were playing the second leg, before returning to his home in Bengaluru. ESPNcricinfo understands Krishna flew business class on a commercial airline from Ahmedabad to Bengaluru on May 5, and got a test done on May 6 after feeling uneasy. It was in Bengaluru where Krishna tested positive, but it is believed to be a mild case.On Friday, the BCCI had named Krishna among the four standbys for the World Test Championship final and the Test series in England.Krishna, 25, made his India debut earlier this year in the ODI series against England in Pune and picked six wickets in three matches.Chakravarthy and Warrier were the first two players to test positive for Covid-19 in the bubble not just from the Knight Riders camp but in the 2021 IPL, which was postponed indefinitely. It later emerged that Wriddhiman Saha of the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Amit Mishra of the Delhi Capitals had also tested positive among players.On Saturday, NZC announced that Seifert had also tested positive and would stay back in India before flying back to New Zealand.Krishna played seven games for the Knight Riders in the 2021 IPL, picking up eight wickets at an economy rate of 9.16.Krishna will hope to recover in time to be in a bubble with the Indian side, which is expected to leave for the UK on June 2. Krishna, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Avesh Khan and Arzan Nagwaswalla were among the four standby players named by the selectors as part of the enlarged squad that will remain in the UK from June to September.

Bangladesh set to tweak XI as Pakistan line up whitewash

The home side has been dominant in bouncing back from a poor recent run of results

The Preview by Mohammad Isam26-Jan-2020

Big picture

Pakistan’s dip in T20I form was a cause for concern, but they have shown signs of being dominant again with back-to-back wins over Bangladesh at home, the wins giving them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The final game could be an opportunity to try out some new faces, but they would certainly want to make a statement with a series sweep.Not much has gone wrong for the home side in this series. They restricted Bangladesh to scores of 141 and 136 in the two matches, and then chased the targets down comfortably enough. The Lahore pitch hasn’t allowed for much flamboyance so far, but that shouldn’t bother a side that had lost eight out of their last ten T20Is before this series.Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez have made an impact with one good innings each, while Babar Azam led from the front in the second game. Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain bowled well in both games, while Shadab Khan has mostly been on the mark. Newcomers Ahsan Ali and Haris Rauf have shown glimpses of their ability too.Bangladesh, though, look unsure of how to go about handling Pakistan’s bowling attack. It’s not so much a lack of skills, but with roles not being defined clearly enough – there are six opening batsmen in the squad – it hasn’t been straightforward for captain Mahmudullah and coach Russell Domingo.Their bowling, too, hasn’t come to the party, with senior quick Mustafizur Rahman guilty of erring in lines and lengths in the first two games. Their lack of a genuine spinner has also added to the lack of balance, as Bangladesh are a team that has always banked on spinners to do a lot of the work, even in T20Is.

Form guide

Pakistan WWLLLBangladesh LLLLWMustafizur Rahman looks on as new boy Hasan Mahmud has a bowl in the nets•Raton Gomes/BCB

In the spotlight

Babar Azam is the No. 1 T20I batsman in the world, and bounced back from a duck in the first game with an an unbeaten 66 in the second. Pakistan would want him to have another good game as they look for the whitewash.Mustafizur Rahman has taken just one wicket for 69 runs in the seven overs he has bowled in the two matches. His areas have been off on a slow pitch that the ball has at times gripped on, exactly where he is expected to be most effective. He needs to get it right in the final game.

Team news

There’s a strong chance that Amad Butt and Usman Qadir will get their international debuts.Pakistan (possible): 1 Ahsan Ali, 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Imad Wasim/Amad Butt, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Haris Rauf/Usman Qadir, 10 Shaheen Afridi 11 Mohammad HasnainDomingo has said that Bangladesh will find space to field Najmul Hossain Shanto, Rubel Hossain and newcomer Hasan Mahmud.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das (wk), 3 Mahedi Hasan, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Afif Hossain, 6 Mahmudullah (capt), 7 Soumya Sarkar, 8 Aminul Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam/Rubel Hossain, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Al-Amin Hossain/Hasan Mahmud

Pitch and conditions

The Gaddafi Stadium pitch has been difficult to score quickly on, though Pakistan did go past Bangladesh’s 136 for 6 with 20 balls to spare in the second game. The weather forecast isn’t great, as there’s a chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

  • With the late Abdul Qadir’s son Usman likely to make his debut in the third T20I, we will have an addition to the list of fathers and sons playing international cricket for Pakistan
  • In the last five years, Mahmudullah is the only Bangladesh batsman to have hit more than ten sixes in the last five overs of their innings in T20Is

Quotes

“I need to give everyone opportunity. We are 2-0 down in the series. The three boys who haven’t played will definitely come in and have a game, so that we can look at a few more options.”

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