Mushfiquir Rahim and Anamul Haque [Reuters]
Bangladesh take on Afghanistan in the first game of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in Group A at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Sunday.
Where to Watch Live
Play is scheduled to start at 9:30pm GMT. Live coverage will be on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports 2 HD. Live text updates of the game will be available on ESPNCricinfo.
Overview
Despite failing to register a single win in the Asia Cup 2014 One-Day International tournament on home soil over the last few weeks, Bangladesh come into this game having won against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ireland in the World T20 Warm-up matches last Wednesday and Friday respectively.
Against UAE, the hosts successfully chased the target of 143 runs set by the visitors with seven balls and four wickets remaining. Tamim Iqbal was their top scorer with 43 runs as they lost six wickets before Mahmudullah (29) and Farhad Reza (14) combined to drag their team across the finish line.
It was relatively easier for Mushfiqur Rahim's side against the Irish as Bangladesh smashed 179 runs in the opening innings. Shakib Al Hasan (58) and Rahim (59) put in a stellar display and remained unbeaten knocking their half-centuries as their bowlers restricted the visitors to 135 runs in 20 overs.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan showed marginally better performance in the Asia Cup which included a single victory against the hosts. However, their stuttering form continued during the warm-up games as they first beat the Netherlands on Wednesday, but failed to beat Zimbabwe on Friday.
The Afghans scored 150 runs in the opening innings against the Dutch. But the game was reduced to 15 overs due to a floodlight problem and a revised target of 122 runs was set for Peter Borren's side. However, they failed to score those runs and were all out for just 86 runs. Aftab Alam took four wickets for Mohammad Nabi's side while Hamza Hotak took three.
In the second game, Afghanistan managed to score 168 runs against Zimbabwe but Brendan Taylor's side successfully chased the total with three balls to spare.
Both Bangladesh and Afghanistan are well aware that only one team will qualify from Group A to be among the final 10 teams competing for the trophy.
Team News
Bangladesh
Probable Lineup: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (c & wk), Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Sohag Gazi, Al-Amin Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain
Afghanistan
Probable Lineup: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Nawroz Mangal, Karim Sadiq, Asghar Stanikzai, Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Hamza Hotak
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