Bangladesh asked to bat first to avoid whitewash

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal lost the toss again and was asked to bat first in the third and final ODI against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club today.

With 2-0 down in the series, the match is crucial for Bangladesh to avoid a whitewash at the hands of Zimbabwe.

If they failed to overcome Zimbabwe juggernaut again, Bangladesh will be swept by the African opponents for the first in this format after 21 years.

Zimbabwe in this match is being led by their star batter Sikandar Raza, whose two consecutive unbeaten centuries helped the side beat Bangladesh by identical five wickets margin in the first two matches. He is leading the side in absence of Regis Chakabva.

However he kept the trend of winning the toss in the series like the other captains of his team in T20 and ODI format. Bangladesh now lost all of the six tosses in the series. Earlier they lost the three-match T20 International series by 2-1, which was also their first ever series defeat in this format against Zimbabwe.

However to avoid the whitewash, Bangladesh handed debut to fast bowler Ebadot Hossain, a Test regular who won a Test for the side in New Zealand. Another pacer Mustafizur Rahman is also back in the mix after missing the second match.

To accommodate those two players, fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and medium pacer Shoriful Islam were axed. Bangladesh indeed made those two changes to have a consolation victory.

Zimbabwe also brought up two changes from the second ODI squad with captain Regis Chakabva being out due to injury along with Luke Jongwe.

Clive Mandane made debut and will keep wicket instead of Chakabva while Richard Ngarava replaced fellow pacer Jongwe.

Line Ups:

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal(capt), Anamul Haque(wk), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam.

Zimbabwe: Tadiwanashe Marumani, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Innocent Kaia, Wessly Madhevere, Sikandar Raza (capt), Clive Mandane (wk), Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Brad Evans, Victor Nyauchi, Tanaka Chivanga.