Mahmudullah not playing: The visiting team will take the field without its regular captain in the third T20I at the Eden Park.
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During the third T20I of the ongoing Bangladesh’s tour of New Zealand in Auckland, Bangladesh stand-in captain Liton Das has won the toss and invited the home team in to bat.
“We’ll bowl first. It’s because of the conditions, which look similar to the last game. Curtailed matches are very difficult to play. We definitely are hungry to win, looking forward,” Das told Spark Sports to express his hunger to win in his first-ever match as the captain of the Bangladeshi team.
Following a more than two-hour delay, the last match of the series has been converted into a 10-over contest due to inclement weather conditions in Auckland. The first overs of both the innings will be the powerplay overs.
10 overs each at Eden Park for the final match of the Alesha Mart T20 Series. 3 over Powerplay #NZvBAN pic.twitter.com/wa8ec4sOvD
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) April 1, 2021
Why is Mahmudullah not playing today’s 3rd T20I in Auckland?
Much like Das, New Zealand captain Tim Southee also expressed a desire to win their last match of this international summer. “It’s been a great season and would be nice to finish with a win. The guys have had enough time to switch on, and there should be plenty of excitement over the next 20 overs,” Southee told Spark Sports at the toss.
Talking about their changes, Southee announced that they have included pacer Lockie Ferguson and spinner Todd Astle as like-for-like replacements for Hamish Bennett and Ish Sodhi.
As far as the changes for the visitors are concerned, they have made three of them – one forced and two tactical. It is worth mentioning that Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah is missing this match due to a strained left thigh which he suffered in the last match in Napier.
Apart from Mahmudullah, Bangladesh have left out Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin to bring in Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mosaddek Hossain and Rubel Hossain.
