Bangladesh were unable to sweep Afghanistan in the one-day international series after losing the third match. The hosts will have another chance to whitewash the visitors when both teams meet for the second T20I on March 5 at SBNCS, Mirpur. Bangladesh must win the second match as the twenty20 series has only two games. On the other hand, Afghanistan have no choice but to win the match in order to level the BAN vs AFG T20I series in 2022. The second T20I match preview is discussed in this article.
Second Match Preview of Bangladesh-Afghanistan T20I Series 2022
Bangladesh team management would be anticipating the same level of performance from their players as they did in the previous encounter. Oppositely, Afghanistan will be hoping that their top-order shines in this do-or-die contest. The match will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Bangladesh Standard Time) at SBNCS, Mirpur.
Bangladesh
Litton Das has been in excellent form in all formats since the beginning of the year, which should please the selectors. Litton is Bangladesh’s best grammatical batter, and his consistency with the bat is crucial to the team’s success.
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Bangladesh’s opening worries have yet to be fixed, which is a major concern. Debutant Munim Shahriar didn’t last long, and Mohammad Naim failed once more with the bat in the opening match of the series. Mushfiqur Rahim is expected to return to the playing XI, and Naim might be sidelined to make room for the veteran.
Bangladesh’s bowlers were outstanding in the opening encounter. Nasum Ahmed single-handedly demolished Afghanistan’s top order and he will certainly be a major concern for the visiting team. Shakib completed his 400th limited-overs wicket in the previous encounter, and Shoriful excelled with his accuracy. This bowling unit is more than capable of upsetting Afghanistan’s batting order.
Predicted playing XI
Top Order: Litton Das, Munim Shahriar, Shakib Al Hasan, Middle-Orders: Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket-keeper), Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Yasir Ali, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Lower-Order: Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed.
Afghanistan
The overall performance of the Afghanistan team was concerning in the opening encounter. They didn’t have their best outing in the series-opening match. The bowling unit performed well, but the batters were underwhelming.
This Afghan top order is inexperienced, and they will require more time to get foreign expertise. However, as we witnessed in the first match, this is a significant advantage for Bangladesh. The Afghanistan team needs a strong start in the match for a competitive total. The top order in this match must tick in order for this to happen.
Rashid Khan, Mujeeb, and Nabi need to step up in the bowling unit to put greater pressure on the Bangladesh batters. Afghanistan must restrict Bangladesh in between 130 to 140 for creating a better opportunity to win the match.
Predicted Playing XI
Top Order: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wicket-Keeper), Hazratullah Zazai, Darwish Rasooli, Middle Orders: Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Lower Order: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Qais Ahmed
Pitch Report and Weather
Saturday will be bright, with no rain in the forecast. The first match pitch was a little grassy, which was not ideal for Afghanistan spinners. Bangladesh had dominated for the majority part of the game on that surface. Therefore, the second match is anticipated to be played on the same surface.
Bottom Line
Afghanistan team is expected to make a strong recovery in the second match in order to even the series. They are a tough T20 side, and overcoming them twice in a row will be difficult for Bangladesh. On the contrary, the Bangladeshi team may draw a lot of positives from their thrashing victory in the series opener. The Mahmudullah-led team will seek to capitalize on a new-look Afghanistan team in order to clinch a clean sweep against them for the first time. Overall, the second match of the BAN vs AFG T20I series 2022 is predicted to be enthralling.
Source: United News of Bangladesh