Tigers chase historic T20I series win against Lankans

Bangladesh will be looking to wrap up the T20I series against Sri Lanka in the 3rd and final match at Sylhet on Saturday.

Bangladesh are undefeated in the last five T20I series winning four of them and will look to extend that run of form.

The Tigers have never won a T20I series against Sri Lanka so they have a chance to create history and head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe spoke to the media on Friday.

The match will start at 3:00 pm and will be the first day match of the tour as the first two games started at 6:00 pm and dew played a role there.

"We are in a position to win this series, but to do that, we have to consider other factors. It is a day game. We are aware of those factors. If we execute our game plan, we are giving ourselves the best chance to win the series. Having said that, Sri Lanka is a very good T20 team," he explained.

Having narrowly lost the first T20I by three run, the Tigers came back strongly in their second match with a comprehensive eight-wicket win on Wednesday and the head coach was very pleased with that performance.

"I thought we played a perfect game (on Wednesday) in the way we executed our bowling and batting plans. Pleasing thing for me was how we quickly learned from the first T20I. Dew had some effect on both teams in that game."

"Our bowlers quickly learned on a pitch like that. The batters reacted well after the previous game, particularly in the powerplay," he explained.

Shoriful Islam was impressive in particular in that match, giving away just 20 runs in his four overs and there was a slight injury concern about the left-arm pacer, who picked up a blow to his right hand, but Hathurusinghe allayed any doubts about his availability:"Shoriful is okay. There's no concern about injury," 
"He had a very good time in the BPL. He came here with the same confidence to bowl in these matches. He however didn't get to swing in the ball because of the dew in the first game. It was pleasing to see him adjust quickly for the second game. He has grown into the leading bowler with Taskin (Ahmed) and Fizz (Mustafizur Rahman). There's another one we can bank on," he added.

There will be a focus on death overs bowling as that has been an area that Bangladesh have been needing improvement in the series. 

The hosts went for a barrage of runs - 64 runs in the last four overs - in the first match but improved in the second match giving away 43 runs in the last five. 

Hathurusingha addressed the issue and spoke about the batting-friendly pitches in Sylhet having a role to play.

"We are continually working on (death bowling). We are playing on a different kind of pitches now. There's more grass, more carry. We wanted to play on wickets that are conducive for high scoring, to get us to understand what areas we need to improve in bowling," he said on Friday. 

"It is a mindset shift as well. When you are bowling on wickets where 150 is a winning score, you are expected to bowl a certain way. Eight runs an over (in Sylhet) is very good. You saw the other day that 160 isn't a par score. We nearly got to 200 even after losing four wickets in the powerplay. We need to understand those factors as well. I am pleased with how our bowling unit is shaping up as well," he explained. 

With the T20 World Cup fast approaching in a few months in June this year, Bangladesh will play six more T20Is including the third T20I against Sri Lanka.

They will play three matches against Zimbabwe in April and then two matches against the USA just before the big tournament, which takes place there and getting the right combination will be key ahead of that tournament. 

"We are looking at a combination for the World Cup, how the individuals are fitting in and understanding the gameplan and be comfortable with that. We wanted to play on good wickets here." 

With USA hosting for the first time in a newly-built stadium in New York, there is very little idea of how the pitch there may behave.

"We don't know about the wickets in America. We play two important games in America. Nobody has any clue. There's not much data behind it. From what I understand, New York will have a drop-in wicket from Adelaide. Hopefully expecting Australian pitches," the head coach added.

Bangladesh's batters have been a bright spot in the series so far with all six of the top six batters getting starts and looking good in the two matches in Sylhet.

Although the opening duo of Soumya Sarkar and Litton Das failed in the first match, they formed a 68-run partnership in the second one. 

Hathurusingha hinted that there would be some stability at the top of the order and that the opening duo would continue.

"It is about correcting what wrong we have done in the past. If something was working, I don't think they (the team management) would make so many changes. We love to see continuity. Their (Soumya and Litton's) approach was very good."

Sri Lanka's regular T20I captain Wanindu Hasaranga will return to the fold after serving a two-match ban for publicly criticising an umpire and breaching ICC's code of conduct and that will be a boost for the visitors.

For Hathurusingha though: "Wanindu Hasaranga is just another player for us. We play what is in front of us."

Speaking of umpires, Sri Lanka sent a written complaint to the match referee on the third umpire's decision to give Soumya not out and their team manager Mahinda Halangoda said that the team had "moved on" from the incident. 

"The report has been sent to the referee on the umpire and the ICC will look at the footage and take whatever action they have to. For us, that episode is over," Halangoda concluded.