Bangladesh playing for pride

Shakib Al Hasan is pulling his team in the right direction

The ODI series between Bangladesh and England has been won by England already, but the hosts will be desperate to avoid a whitewash in the final fixture tomorrow. England is the only major International side that Shakib Al Hasan’s side is yet to beat. They came within touching distance on Tuesday only to be thwarted by a magnificent innings from Eoin Morgan. With the pressure off, Bangladesh could finally overcome their English hurdle.

There is much to be pondered in the English dressing room, too. Kevin Pietersen will be desperate for a decent innings here, as will new boy Craig Kieswetter. Having got his debut out of the way, James Tredwell will be looking for his first International wicket, although he came very close on Tuesday. Luke Wright will be looking for wickets and runs too, and the whole team will want to polish off the series in style.

The only pressure facing either side now is that to perform. The Bangladeshi’s will be hugely disappointed that they have so far failed to put England to the sword with magnificent individual performances being delivered by Tamim Iqbal, Naeem Islam and some solid bowling from their spinners.

Unfortunately for the hosts winning is an art that can only be learnt through, well, winning. They lack a ruthless streak at the moment although Shakib is pulling his side in the right direction. On their day they can be a match for anyone in the world, but consistency is King and they haven’t found the magic formula just yet. For this reason I’m going to predict a comfortable victory tomorrow for England as I think the Bangladeshi’s will be deflated by the conclusion to the second ODI. Some runs for KP would be long overdue and serve as a welcome bonus, but I can see him being dismissed by a slow left-armer for the third and final time this series…

By Miles Reucroft

March 4, 2010