Bangladesh will look to get the series back on track when they meet Pakistan in the 2nd T20I at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore tomorrow. The hosts were clinical in the 1st T20I earlier today when they thrashed Bangladesh by 5 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series. Batting first, Bangladesh barely managed to get past the 140 mark which wasn’t going to be a match-winning total under any stress of imagination.
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Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Naim got the visitors off to a solid start but the momentum was lacking. After sharing a 71 runs partnership in 11 overs, both the batsmen fell in quick succession which prevented the middle order to accelerate. The Pakistan bowlers were at the mark and managed to restrict Bangladesh to 141. Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and debutant Haris Rauf bagged a wicket each.
Shafiul Islam bowled brilliantly upfront and bagged the prized wicket of Babar Azam on nought. It was debutant Ahsan Ali and Shoaib Malik who scored the bulk of the runs and made light work of the target in the end. As told by Babar Azam, Malik’s experience did come in handy as Pakistan managed to chase down the target with 3 balls to spare.
Pitch Conditions and Toss
Traditionally, the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore has produced good batting-friendly wickets. Hence we should expect a high scoring match. The team winning the toss is expected to bat first and set up a huge score. However, what we saw in the first match might tempt the team winning the toss to choose otherwise. Like today we should be expecting an exciting encounter tomorrow.
Probable Playing XI’s
Pakistan
Ahsan Ali, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossain, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah (c), Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain
Match Details:
Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2nd T20I
Date And Time: 25th January, Friday– 2: 30 pm IST
Venue: Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore
TV – Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD
Online– Sony LIV
Pivotal Players
Pakistan
Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Shadab Khan
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman
Top 4 batting order
Pakistan
Ahsan Ali, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik,
Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Afif Hossain, Liton Das
Clean Hitters
Pakistan
Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Babar Azam
Bangladesh
Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal
Death over bowlers
Pakistan
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf
Bangladesh
Mustafizur Rahman, Al Amin Hossain
Wicket-keepers
Liton Das will be the sole wicket-keeper in our dream XI team. He is a fine striker of the ball and has the magical ability to time the ball to perfection. Liton scored 12 of 13 deliveries in the opening match which included a couple of fours.
Batsmen
Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Naim Sheikh will be the first two players in this category. Both these batsmen looked in good touch during the opening clash and shared a fluent stand of 71 runs. However, it didn’t come at a fair clip as the duo took 11 overs for the partnership. While Tamim scored 39 of 34 deliveries including 4 fours and a solitary six, Naim scored 43 of 41 deliveries which were studded with 3 fours and a couple of maximums.
Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik and Ahsan Ali will be the next three batsmen in our dream XI team. Babar was dismissed by a great delivery from Shafiul Islam in the 1st T20I and will be looking to make amends in the 2nd encounter. He is a world-class batsman and it won’t be a good idea to leave him out of the team owing to one flop show.
Shoaib Malik proved to be the match-winner for Pakistan in the opening clash. He looked in great touch during his knock of 58 of 45 deliveries and ensured the hosts reached the target with 3 balls to spare. His innings was studded with 5 fours. On the other hand, newcomer Ahsan Ali looked in good touch during his stay at the crease. He struck 4 boundaries during his knock of 36 of 32 deliveries.
All-rounders
Soumya Sarkar and Shadab Khan will be the two all-rounders in our dream XI team. Soumya Sarkar is a powerful striker of the ball and has the ability to chip in with some important wickets in the middle. The southpaw scored just 7 in the opening clash and didn’t manage to get a single wicket. However, he is an impact player and should come up with an innings of substance tomorrow.
Shadab Khan, on the other hand, is a wicket-taking option with the ball and also has the ability to smash the big shots if required. He bagged a solitary wicket in the opening T20I and will look to get in the action tomorrow.
Bowlers
Shafiul Islam, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf will be the three bowlers in our dream XI team. Shafiul was the pick of the Bangladesh bowlers during the opening T20I bagging a couple of wickets for just 27 runs. He bagged the prized wickets of Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed.
Shaheen Afridi was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers bagging a solitary wicket for just 23 runs in his 4 overs spell. He bagged the wicket of Soumya Sarkar in his final over. Meanwhile debutant Haris Rauf also looked in a great rhythm and chipped in with a wicket. His maiden wicket was of Afif Hossain.
Captain and Vice-captain
Shoaib Malik will be the captain of the day while Babar Azam will be the vice-captain.
Dream 11 Disclaimer
All our selections are based on in-depth and astute analysis of the players partaking in the match, pitch report and a perusal of other reasoning. Please incorporate a slew of factors while crafting your own side with this article serving as a guide to the match and players.
