Bangladesh hopes to defeat the depleted world champs.

The big picture: Bangladesh is poised to make history.

Bangladesh may be excused for entering this third and final T20I feeling that their mission was successful. It has taken a very long time for England to defeat them in a series; in fact, it has taken 20 years, encompassing three distinct formats and a variety of serious and lasting humiliations, from their ill-prepared Test efforts in 2003 to their narrow miss at Mirpur during England’s 2010 tour.

Since then, they have been reducing the gap, winning at least once in each of their last five bilateral series on each side of their best success to date, the exciting victory in Adelaide in 2015, which allowed them to advance past England in the World Cup knockout rounds. But finally, by maintaining composure during Sunday’s low-scoring thriller, they managed to win a trophy that will rank among their fondest successes.

The challenge now, however, is to try again and dig a little bit deeper in a circumstance that England itself may be familiar with from their home series against Australia in 2018. When the series was back at Old Trafford, England had a 4-0 lead with one game left, but the threat of a rout increased the stakes for both teams. Jos Buttler’s century helped his team win by two wickets in the toughest match of all. In order to prevent such an embarrassment, England’s double-world champions must focus even harder than before. As a result, the same will be expected of their hosts.

There have been many ways to make up for England’s subpar performances in the first two games. As Jos Buttler noted after the second game, the 50-over World Cup is coming up in October, so it makes sense to give players like Moeen Ali and Sam Curran more time in the middle of the field than they would typically receive at the end of a 20-over game. Nevertheless, as Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports, England’s unbalanced lineup has been all too easily exposed in two games, and there is a point at which such strategic selection comes off as disrespectful.

Even if Sam Hain or Jordan Cox had been brought in to bulk up that middle order instead of, say, Chris Jordan, whose 2.5-over workload epitomizes the overabundance of bowling options at Buttler’s disposal in this series, there is still good reason to believe that Bangladesh would have defeated England.

After all, it took two great centuries from Dawid Malan and Jason Roy for Bangladesh to lose the ODI series and suffer their first home loss in the format since 2007. The hosts have demonstrated a variety of abilities that bode well for another era of home domination after transferring that same concentration into the 20-over format.

They’ve found a batsman with unwavering faith in his techniques in Najmul Hossain Shanto, who can either rip to a 27-ball fifty when the going is good, as it was in Chattogram, or buckle down and suffer in Dhaka to a degree that none of England’s own top-order could match. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taskin Ahmed entered the middle flushed with confidence following their individual bowling performances. Shanto’s 46 not out from 47 balls projected a beautiful aura of permanency that freed up his colleagues to take on the game. Everything turned out to be a delicious formula.

All of this does not alter the fact that England is the dominant side in modern white-ball cricket. Jofra Archer’s spectacular performance in Dhaka confirmed his unmatched variety of abilities, including raw pace, game sense, and canny variation, all of which, thrillingly, still appear to be in working condition following his 18-month injury layoff. Buttler is the best T20 batter of his generation.

Buttler’s team is capable of performing much better than they have in the last two games, but can they muster enough tenacity to avoid a significant defeat in this era of fixture overload, with one World Cup already won and another one soon to be defended? Their senior players’ immediate concerns are primarily the IPL and the Ashes. In other case, Bangladesh might not allow them much wiggle room just now.

form manual

Bengali WWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Britain LLWWW

Rony Talukdar and Ben Duckett are featured.

One of the more surprising selections in recent years was Rony Talukdar’s comeback to international cricket, eight years after his one-off performance in 2015. In addition to being based on merit, the call-up demonstrated Bangladesh’s intention to advance its BPL talents, and that new strategy has been very successful over the past two matches. In Chattogram, where he hit his first ball back in the big-time clean through the covers for four on his way to a record-setting 21 from 14, Talukdar’s contribution to those victories may have exceeded his actual returns, though. He has contributed to setting the tone, but something more significant would ensure that this recall is more than just a passing favor.

Ben Duckett probably stands to benefit the most from his increased exposure out of all the specialty batters in England’s unbalanced lineup. Given his sweep-dominant approach in spinning conditions, along with his electrifying performances in Pakistan during the T20Is last year and his eager Bazballing at the top of the Test batting order, he is positioning himself as a World Cup bolter.

His performances in this series thus far have been a qualified success in that regard. He scored 20 from 13 balls in Chattogram, where “it going all good and then I missed one,” and then a run-a-ball 28 in Mirpur, which was a more competitive contribution than it would have seemed at the time. He might still force his way into the discourse come October if he can end this campaign on a personal high.

Team news: Not many changes are expected

A winning line-up gained an extra cutting edge with the ball and, as it turned out, the bat thanks to Mehidy’s exciting debut in Dhaka. There’s no need to alter this winning Eleven assuming the pitch helps the spinners similarly.

Bangladesh: Rony Talukdar, Litton Das (wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Shakib Al Hasan four (capt), Towhid Hridoy 5, Afif Hossain 6, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is seven. Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, and 8

There isn’t much room for maneuver with England’s flimsy team. With yet another demonstration that he is on course to achieve full fitness, Archer may very probably be asked to step down. On a pitch that gave more for the quicks than Chattogram did, Mark Wood is the obvious candidate to come back. The alternative is Reece Topley, presuming he has recovered from the ailment that has prevented him from playing. In game two, Buttler dropped in the standings. If the experiment is replicated, that remains to be seen.

Phil Salt is the likely starter for England, followed by Jos Buttler (captain and wicketkeeper), Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Rehan Ahmed, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood.

Pitch and conditions: A potential turner

If the Dhaka pitch for the second T20I is any indication, there will be a lot of spin and uneven bounce. And if that works in the hosts’ favor, Buttler claims that England is willing to learn from such circumstances, especially with the 50-over World Cup in mind. In the course of the day, the temperature in Dhaka will decrease from warm to moderate.
Throughout their history, Bangladesh has only ever defeated Ireland in a T20I series of three or more games and come out on top. In two other T20I rubbers, in 2021–22, they defeated Australia 4–1 and New Zealand 3-2, winning three or more matches overall.

In all formats, England has lost three straight games to Bangladesh, which is a record-low.