West Indies vs Bangladesh, 3rd T20I Match Preview, Prediction and Live Streaming

With two-in-two wins, Bangladesh have the series in their pockets. Doing so, they not only outperformed their opponent, West Indies but also did better than how they did previously. Before this series, Bangladesh last defeated Bangladesh in 2018. Two matches in they have a series win next to their name. From what it looks like, they are far from finished. They will be eager to come back for the hosts in the last game too.

There is another interesting aspect to their wins. In both games, Bangladesh were asked to bat first by the Windies. This is ironic because so far seven T20I games have been played at Arnos Vale Ground, and on all seven of these, the teams batting first went over the line. Did Rovman Powell twice fail to read the conditions properly? For a team whose openers need just a few good strokes to get going, batting first would really have been the best decision.

Team Overview:

Litton Das decided to open in this game, hoping to find his lost form by switching places, but it did not work for him. He departed for a 10-ball-3, missing out on another opportunity to cap the year on a high note. The rest of the visitors’ top order was not too impressive either. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Soumya Sarkar, and Jaker Ali tried to steady the innings, but Shamim Hossain’s 205-strike rate cameo was what took Bangladesh to 129. Star of the show, however, was the visitors’ bowling. 129 is the lowest total that Bangladesh have successfully defended in T20Is. Both pacers and spinners did a fantastic job containing the Windies. Mahedi Hasan and Taskin Ahmed got rid of four batters within the powerplay to set the tone for the game and stifle any chances of victory that the hosts had.

West Indies were dismal with bat and ball. Barring Roston Chase and Akeal Hossein, none of the batters reached double figures. And that’s not even the worst part about their performance. Despite the pitch offering generous help to the bowlers, the hosts failed to get the entire team out, letting them reach a defendable total. This seems more worrisome when realized that the bowlers had gotten rid of two of the Bangladesh batters within the first six but failed to cash on that effort. West Indies would rue the fact that they let Mehidy and Soumya get away with runs that could have been stopped.

Head-to-Head Matches:

In 18 T20I games both sides have played against each other, West Indies won 9, while Bangladesh came out on top in 7 matches. Two games ended without any result.

Weather and Pitch Report:

The surface at Arnos Vale ground was very sluggish in the previous two games, which made the low-scoring games possible. Expect the surface to behave similarly. Although the surface will have plenty for the bowlers, they will have to toil hard to get those to work for their advantage. Batting second would be a kamikaze attempt, something Rovman Powell would not want to repeat. There will not be any rain again, though the sky will remain covered in clouds.