Bangladesh aim to clinch their first-ever T20 series victory against Sri Lanka in the decisive third and final match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today (March 9).
The match is slated to start at 3:30 pm and will be telecast live on T Sports.
Before coming into the series, both teams played four T20 bilateral series between each other where Sri Lanka won three and the remaining series finished in a 1-1 draw.
Sri Lanka continued their good performance over the Tigers in this format when they won the nail-biting series opener by three runs before the hosts bounced back in the series by clinching a thumping eight-wicket win to level the series 1-1.
Although Bangladesh have beaten Sri Lanka across all three formats, they are yet to register a series victory against them in the Tests and T20Is. Their only series win against Sri Lanka came in 2021 when they beat them by a 2-1 margin in a three-match ODI series on home soil.
“We are in a position to win this series, but to do that, we have to consider other factors. It is a day game. We are aware of those factors. If we execute our game plan, we are giving ourselves the best chance to win the series. Having said that,
Sri Lanka are a very good T20 team,” Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha told reporters during a press conference in Sylhet on Friday.
“I thought we played a perfect game (on Wednesday) in the way we executed our bowling and batting plans. A pleasing thing for me was how we quickly learned from the first T20I.
“Dew had some effect on both teams in that game. Our bowlers quickly learned on a pitch like that. The batters reacted well after the previous game, particularly in the power-play,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan batting coach Thilina Kandamby also expressed his optimism about winning the series against Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka received a great boost ahead of the crucial match as their regular skipper Wanindu Hasaranga is all set to return to the playing XI after he missed the opening two games due to an ICC ban.
However, the chance of getting the service of pacer Matheesha Pathirana is very low for Sri Lanka as he’s yet to recover from his hamstring injury.
“I think Wanindu is back in the side which is a good advantage for us,” said Kandamby. “We have sent him (Pathirana) for a scan today and we are waiting for the report. I can’t say anything about it at the moment.
“We are having the final practice session and at the moment, everybody is keeping their heads up and I am sure the boys will bounce back tomorrow,” he concluded.
BDST: 1040 HRS, MAR 09, 2023
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