
Bangladesh will be looking to clean sweep UAE when the two sides face off in the second and final Twenty20 international at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.
The match is scheduled to begin at 9:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time, and T Sports will telecast it live.
The Liton Das-led team won the first match of the series by 27 runs thanks to a hundred from Parvez Hossain, who became only the second Bangladeshi player to score a century in a T20I after Tamim Iqbal on Saturday.
Thanks to Parvez’s ton, which consisted of a record nine sixes, Bangladesh put 191-7 on the board.
Despite having a great start in the first half of the chase, the hosts collapsed as they lost their last seven wickets for just 33 runs to be bundled out for 164 runs in the last ball of the innings.
Parvez dispatched nine sixes—the most by a Bangladeshi batter in an innings—as the UAE bowlers continued to bowl in his arc.
However, despite Parvez’s 54-ball 100-run innings, Bangladesh failed to score 200 as no one could make any substantial contribution other than the southpaw. The second highest score was Towhid Hridoy’s 20 runs.
But Parvez said that he tried to maintain the same tempo.
‘When wickets were falling, I tried not to change my intent,’ Parvez said after the match. ‘I was waiting, but it was on my mind that I should play a big innings. As wickets were falling from one end, I should carry on. That’s what I tried, and Alhamdulillah, I was able to finish it.’
Captain Liton, however, wasn’t content with the team’s overall batting effort.
 ‘The wicket was very good for batting. [Parvez Hossain] Emon was fantastic. But we should finish better, as we couldn’t score that many runs in the last three overs,’ said Liton after winning the first match since becoming captain.
Liton also gave credit to his bowlers for pegging the hosts back after they made a fantastic start in the chase. The UAE lost their last seven wickets for just 33 runs.
‘Credit must go to the bowlers,’ said Liton. ‘I knew that my bowlers could turn things around at any time. I know the strengths of our bowlers. At the same time, the UAE batters played really well. They should also be given the credit given how they batted in the middle overs.’
This was Bangladesh’s first win in T20Is at the historic Sharjah after losing the first three matches.
Liton was confident of clinching the series.
‘Of course we will carry the confidence into the second match. How the bowlers bowled showed their characters. It seemed fifty-fifty in the middle overs. But it was fantastic how everyone bowled,’ said Liton.
Bangladesh played three pacers—Tanzim Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Mustafizur Rahman—and two spinners—Tanvir Islam and Mahedi Hasan—in the first match.
Bangladesh will have to make at least one change in the eleven today, as Mustafiz is set to miss today’s match after getting an NOC to play in the IPL.
Rishad Hossain and Nahid Rana—who were reportedly stuck in the airport for almost three days due to a visa issue—should be under full consideration for today’s match.