Rage against the pitch – it’s Bangladesh vs West Indies vs the surface in series decider

Big picture – Another game of patience?

The batting line-up that deals with the spin better on these Dhaka pitches will clinch the ODI series – it’s almost that simple.

West Indies pinched a one-run win against Bangladesh in the Super Over after 213 played 213 in the second ODI after 92 overs of spin couldn’t find a result, which speaks of how the batters had it.

To West Indies’ credit, they have embraced the Dhaka conditions, many of them showing greater belief than their Bangladesh counterparts. They doubled down on bowling spinners, completing the entire innings in the second ODI with only slow bowlers. They didn’t use Justin Greaves even for one over. Interestingly, it was the part-time offspinner Alick Athanaze, who was West Indies’ best bowler, with 2 for 14 from his ten overs.

Akeal Hosein, Roston Chase and Khary Pierre bowled decent spells, though Gudakesh Motie went for plenty, especially in the death overs. West Indies will expect improvement in the spinners’ economy rate, but they will look for a bit more from their batters too.

Shai Hope struck a fifty but several middle- and lower-middle-order batters fell after getting starts. Athanaze and Brandon King will be expected to give them a strong start, with Keacy Carty for support at No. 3. Hope will need help from Sherfane Rutherford and Chase among the more experienced batters too. Ackeem Auguste wasn’t convincing on his ODI debut, so another opportunity beckons for the youngster.

Bangladesh would also have to give their batting line-up another go, although they would have initially thought scoring 213 on this pitch was a worthy effort. Crucially, they have a dot-ball percentage of 62.04, which demands better strike rotation from them in the third ODI.

It is also high time that Bangladesh’s top three contributed more significantly. Soumya Sarkar top-scored with 46 in the previous game but Saif Hassan and Najmul Hossain Shanto haven’t made a big score. The middle order has contributed but with moderate scores and mini partnerships. Bangladesh needed Rishad Hossain‘s big-hitting lower down to boost their run-rates in the death overs.

Their bowling attack was slightly better than the visitors’ in the second game, even though a tie doesn’t suggest that.

Form guide

Bangladesh LWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLWWL

In the spotlight – Soumya Sarkar and Akeal Hosein

Soumya Sarkar hung around for nearly two hours on the tricky Dhaka pitch in the second ODI. He fell short of a fifty, but it wasn’t a very convincing effort. This, despite hitting a couple of lovely shots, including one of his signature inside-out strokes. Soumya was sent back in the Super Over, where he couldn’t connect properly. It was a tough ask for the enigmatic batter, who has been in and out of the Bangladesh team for the last ten years. Nothing much has changed, but he could do with a bit of spotlight.

Akeal Hosein raced to Dhaka to be part of the second ODI, where he played a big role in West Indies levelling the series. He bowled a couple of wides and a no-ball in the Super Over, but managed to keep the Bangladesh batters tied up. He had earlier bowled economically in his return to the ODI setup after two years. That he was playing an international match after very little sleep wasn’t evident. Hosein will continue to exert influence in the rest of the tour, as he is expected to take the new ball in both ODIs and T20Is.

Bangladesh could look at Tanzid Hasan, Jaker Ali and Shamim Hossain for a shake-up of their batting line-up.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mahidul Islam, 6 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Tanvir Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

West Indies have Amir Jangoo if they want a change in the top six.

West Indies (probable): 1 Brandon King, 2 Alick Athanaze, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 5 Ackeem Auguste, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Gudakesh Motie, 9 Justin Greaves, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Khary Pierre

Pitch and conditions

What the ICC match officials report about the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch will be something to watch out for. It resembles a puzzle-board with different types of turn and different levels of bounce, apart from being two-paced.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh played their first tied game in international cricket in the second ODI.
• Towhid Hridoy and Shai Hope are the only batters to score fifties in the series so far.
• The two sides combined to bowl 92 overs of spin in the second game, the most in any ODI.

Quotes

“We just broke our record today – 50 overs of spin. So you tell me, where in the world have you seen that? Lovely match, exciting, you know, it was nail-biting, but I’ll leave it as that.”
Akeal Hosein when asked about the quality of the cricket on display

“It’s very difficult to play strokes on this wicket. You’ve seen that not many singles were easily scored, and very few boundaries were hit in the overs.”
Soumya Sarkar on batting on the Dhaka pitch

ESPNCricinfo