Sports Reporter :
Spirited Bangladesh will face Australia in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in the city’s Mirpur today. The game starts at 6.00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). If Bangladesh win today’s match, they will clinch the T20I series with two matches in hand. State-owned television channel BTV, private satellite channel GTV, private satellite sports channel T Sports will telecast the match live from the arena.
Earlier, the hosts beat the tourists by 23 runs in the first T20I match at the same venue on August 3 thanks to Nasum Ahmed, who captured four wickets giving just 19 runs. The left-arm spinner was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match-winning bowling performance. Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman and talented left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam also showed consistent bowling performance. Mustafizur bagged two wickets in the space of 16 runs in the first T20I, while Shoriful claimed two wickets instead of 19 runs in the first T20I.
Bangladesh defeated Australia by five wickets in the second T20I at the same venue on August 4 thanks to Afif Hossain, who remained unbeaten with 37. He hit five fours and a sixer in his 31-ball innings. Afif was adjudged the Man of the Match for his match-winning knock. He made 23 from 17 balls in the first T20I.
‘Cutter Boy’ Mustafizur Rahman grabbed three wickets in the space of 23 runs in the second T20I, while talented Shoriful Islam bagged two wickets for 27 runs in the second T20I.
Marking the upcoming third T20I match, Australia took part in their practice session on Thursday.
On the other hand, players of Bangladesh took rest yesterday to present a fresh and fighting game against Australia.
Bangladesh squad : Mahmudullah Riyad (Captain), Naim Sheikh, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan (wicketkeeper), Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun and Rubel Hossain.
