Bangladesh well placed to complete whitewash

Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Start time 1430 local (0830 GMT)

Bangladesh are allowed to feel some Schadenfreude when hearing Pakistan ask for more time to develop as a team. It used to be Bangladesh's go-to phrase for years. Ahead of the third ODI, both teams are in uncharted waters: there have been plenty of dead rubbers between these sides but Pakistan were never on the wrong end of one.

In the first two matches, Bangladesh had good starts with the bat and that translated into a smoother time for the middle order. Their lower order hasn't needed to contribute yet. Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim had two century stands, with Tamim making a brace of hundreds. Mushfiqur also continued his rich form, collecting a hundred and a fifty. Soumya Sarkar is promising to build on his starts, but Mahmudullah will want a big innings in the third ODI.

The home team's spinners have also taken grip of the two contests. Shakib Al Hasan and Arafat Sunny did it by varying their pace, while Nasir Hossain was accurate. Mashrafe Mortaza will also rely on Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed to continue giving him breakthroughs. The young pair has outbowled their opposite numbers.

Pakistan's pace attack has disappointed, especially Junaid Khan. He has just one wicket in two games and looked listless. Rahat Ali's hamstring niggle meant Umar Gul could be back after his last playing in December. Saeed Ajmal has also been disappointing but he is feeling his way back into international cricket with his remedied action, while Mohammad Hafeez will be relieved to be given the green-signal by the ICC just before Wednesday's game.

The batting has also failed. Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed have been poor as openers while Hafeez and Fawad Alam are senior batsmen without runs. Instead it has been Mohammad Rizwan and Saad Nasim, the two newcomers, who have shown glimpses of their talent.

Bangladesh WWLLW (last five matches, most recent first)

Pakistan LLLWW

Tamim Iqbal will have restored most of his lost confidence after scoring two successive hundreds. His approach in this series has been like the Tamim of old, when he freely charged the bowlers. A third big score can be expected.

There was hue and cry to include Sarfraz Ahmed in Pakistan's XI during the World Cup. He repaid the faith back then, but he has been unsuccessful in this series. With the team desperate for runs at the top, there is pressure on him to get a big score.

If Bangladesh are going for a 3-0 victory, they will not want to change the line-up. However, if they rest one of their senior players, Mominul Haque or Rony Talukdar could get a game.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mahmudullah, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Nasir Hossain, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Arafat Sunny, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Rubel Hossain

Pakistan are likely to bring in Umar Gul in place of Rahat Ali. Zulfiqar Babar could come in to add to the spin attack though with Hafeez now allowed to bowl, they could go with Ajmal as the only specialist spinner.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 2 Azhar Ali (capt), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Mohammad Rizwan, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Saad Nasim, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Umar Gul

The pitch is expected to behave similarly as the ones used for the first two games, with the side batting first targeting a 300-plus score. Weather could worsen in the early evening with forecasts showing 88% chance of rain at around 5:00pm.

"We had two near-perfect performances in the first two games. If we continue in this manner, we have a chance to make it 3-0."
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza

"We have a new team with plenty of youngsters. It is a matter of one good innings and one very good spell can turn everything. We will play hard and positive cricket."Pakistan spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed