Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan as they seek a place in the final of the tri-nation One Day International (ODI) series in the United Arab Emirates, needing a convincing victory in their final group-stage match on Wednesday.
Bangladesh have made three changes to their playing XI for this must-win match. Rishad Hossain, Nurul Hasan and Mosaddek Hossain, who featured against Zimbabwe, have been left out. Aliss Al Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Parvez Hossain come into the side.
Aliss, who made his international debut at last month’s Asian Games, is making his ODI debut today.
After suffering a 99-run defeat to Zimbabwe in their opening match, Bangladesh must beat Afghanistan at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.
Victory alone, however, is not enough. Bangladesh also need to overcome a significant net run-rate deficit to move ahead of Zimbabwe in the standings.
Net run-rate equation
Bangladesh need to win by at least 41 runs to achieve the required net run rate to qualify for the final.
Afghanistan hold a commanding position after thrashing Zimbabwe by 158 runs. Their net run rate of +3.160 puts them at the top of the standings after one match. Zimbabwe are second at -0.590, having won one match and lost one, while Bangladesh are third at -1.980 following their opening defeat.
Afghanistan could still qualify for the final even if they lose to Bangladesh, thanks to their strong net run rate. Bangladesh, meanwhile, need a convincing victory to overtake Zimbabwe and remain in contention.
Afghanistan hold recent advantage
The head-to-head record between the two sides is evenly balanced, with Bangladesh and Afghanistan having won 11 matches each in their 22 ODI meetings.
Recent results, however, favour Afghanistan. They have won five of their last six encounters with Bangladesh, with all five victories coming at UAE venues in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Bangladesh will therefore need to overcome both Afghanistan’s recent dominance and the net run-rate challenge to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.
Bangladesh XI
Towhid Hridoy (captain), Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain, Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Aliss Al Islam.
Afghanistan XI
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah (capt), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bilal Sami