washington post

Bangladesh have a chance to secure their qualification for the final of the Asia Cup if they beat Pakistan on Wednesday. http://www.thereportertimes.com/

Date: Wednesday, 2 March

Time: 7:30 p.m. local (1:30 p.m. GMT)

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh

Live Stream and TV Info: Fox Sports (Australia), DD National/Star Sports (India), GEO Super/PTV Sports (Pakistan), TNL TV (Sri Lanka), Star/Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Life OK (UK), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Yupptv.com (Live streaming service available in Europe).

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, there's no risk of a thunderstorm on Wednesday. It will be hot and sticky since there'll have been no rain to cool things down after temperatures climb into the mid-30s during the day.

Overview

Because there are no play-off places to secure a spot in the final of the Asia Cup, consistency in the matches leading up to the final is important. Bangladesh have won two out of their three fixtures and have the opportunity to seal their qualification for Sunday’s final by beating Pakistan.

Neither side has been overly convincing so far. While Bangladesh do have the advantage of having played more fixtures, Twenty20 can be such a lottery that it might not even matter.

For Pakistan, finding some batting consistency will be key. In their first match, against India, they folded to 83 all out in just 17.3 overs. Just two batsmen managed to get into double figures.

There was a slight improvement in their second fixture against the United Arab Emirates, but not without a few hiccups. With a target of 130 required, the top order collapsed with the top three adding just 15 runs between them. Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik steadied the ship with a half-century each, but it's ensuring that this consistency carries to the next match that will matter most.

Pakistan are not the only team with batting woes, though. Only one of the Test playing nations has had a batsman total more than 100 runs in the fixtures to date.

The bad news for Pakistan is that batsman is from Bangladesh. SabbirRahman is the only player not from an associate country who has scored more than 100 runs in total in this tournament, with 130 runs in three matches at an average of 43.33. More good news for Bangladesh is that Al-Amin Hossain is in the top three of the wicket-takers list with seven scalps at an average of 11.28.

On paper, Bangladesh look like firm favourites to win this fixture, even if they have only beaten Pakistan once in all of their eight meetings.

Key players

Bangladesh

Shakib Al Hasan has had an underwhelming series and year with the bat in T20 so far. In seven matches he has managed just 102 runs at an average of 20.40, but he has shown on a number of occasions just how devastating he can be. Bangladesh will need something special against Pakistan and Al Hasan can certainly offer that.

Pakistan

Mohammed Amir has put in some exceptional bowling spells so far. While his return from cricket following his ban for spot-fixing remains controversial, he has been a real joy to watch for anyone who enjoys fast bowling.

Squads

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, ImrulKayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, SoumyaSarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-AminHossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan

Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Anwar Ali,Iftikhar Ahmed, Khurram Manzoor, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz,Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Sharjeel Khan.