High hopes for Bangladesh in ODI Series against Sri Lanka in 2014

High hopes for Bangladesh in ODI Series against Sri Lanka in 2014

Syed Munazir Hussain

AFP

Backed by a record of 2 wins, 1 loss, 1 no result against the mighty Lankans, in the last 4 ODI’s played between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the results of the upcoming 3 match ODI series do not look as easy to predict like back in the day. The record of having recently thrashed New Zealand by a margin of 4-0 will also keep the local boys confident of having a sniff at a series victory which didn’t happen back in 2012 in Sri Lanka when they had to come back home with a 1-1 tie when the second match of the series was washed away by rain. Having come back strongly in the 2^nd test with a draw and two consecutive last ball finishes in the T20 series will also keep the tigers spirited. On the other hand Sri Lanka will be looking back at their 2-0 T20 series victory instead of their 2-1 loss in the ODI series against Pakistan.

Form guide
Bangladesh WWWLL
Sri Lanka WLLWL

Let’s take a look into the batting statistics of both teams to compare where they stand.

 

Batting:      

   

Bangladesh:

Sl	Player	Match	Runs	100	Average		Strike Rate
					Career	Last 1 yr	Career	Last 1 yr
1	Tamim Iqbal	124	3,702	4	30.09	40.00	78.38	66.11
2	Shamsur Rahman	2	121		60.50	60.50	75.15	75.15
3	Anamul Haque (wk)	9	261	1	32.62	22.00	72.09	75.00
4	Mushfiqur	122	2449	1	26.33	24.75	68.14	82.84
5	Shakib Al Hasan	129	3,688	5	35.12	17.66	78.18	86.88
6	Nasir Hossain	28	819	1	43.10	64.20	81.65	98.46
7	Mahmudullah	94	1,829		33.25	34.71	72.43	84.96
8	Sohag Gazi	11	115		19.16	17.66	89.84	104.00
9	Mashrafe Mortaza	129	1,226		15.32	10.00	87.44	166.66
10	Rubel Hossain	43	44		4.88	5.00	51.76	50.00
11	Arafat Sunny	--	--		--	--	---	---
					300.37	296.48	75.51	89.01
12	Naeem Islam	56	894		27.09	54.33	66.32	78.36
13	Mominul Haque	12	205		20.05	22.66	67.43	69.03

Shamsur Rahman looks to be establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the ODI side and the answer to Bangladesh’s search for a partner for Tamim Iqbal as an opener. The century in the test match and good form in T20 cricket will certainly keep him pumped up. Tamim’s average of 40 in the last year makes him look good to perform in this series. Anamul Huq’s return as wicketkeeper batsman in the T20 series (and Mushfiqur’s inability to keep), will give him an opportunity to cement his place in the ODI team after his certain loss of form last year. Mushfiqur Rahim who will be playing as a specialist batsman after his injury in the test series will be looking to better his record as an ODI batsman. If he doesn’t improve on his batting in this form of the game other batsmen of Mominul’s class and Naeem’s form will be looking to replace him sooner than he gets used to play as a specialist batsman. Nasir Hossain looks in prime form with an average of 64.20 and strike rate of 98.46 in the last year against his career average and strike rate of 43.10 and 81.65 respectively. I will prefer Mahmudullah at number 7 because of his consistency as a batsman at that position in ODI cricket, and also because of the fact that he looks more serious with his bowling than ever before. Arafat Sunny will be playing instead of the injured Razzak and has looked promising in the T20 matches.

Bangladesh has a cumulative team batting average of about 300 and a team strike rate average of 89 per 100 balls, in the last year.

Batting:      

Sri Lanka:

Sl.	Batsman	Match	Runs	100	Average		Strike Rate
					Career	Last 1 yr	Career	Last 1 yr
1	MDKJ Perera	19	333	0	23.78	21.76	84.51	88.43
2	TM Dilshan	275	8,014	17	37.98	67.2	85.83	85.20
3	KC Sangakkara†	362	12,116	16	40.11	63.21	76.79	89.56
4	LD Chandimal	74	1,744	2	31.7	25.33	73.96	70.24
5	SMA Priyanjan	2	75	0	37.5	37.5	75.75	75.75
6	AD Mathews*	113	2,290	0	34.17	33.73	82.94	80.19
7	KDK Vithanage	2	41	0	20.5	20.5	105.12	105.12
8	SMSM Senanayake	21	160	0	17.77	16.16	115.1	138.57
9	SL Malinga	160	424	0	7.7	5	78.95	83.30
10	BAW Mendis	66	130	0	7.64	11.2	66.66	75.00
11	Lakmal	20	5	0	1.25	1.25	13.51
					260.1	302.84	84.561	89.136
12	Kulasekara	146	1,064		16.36	15.2	81.9	107.80
13	Thisara perera	67	651		16.27	16.55	105.85	90.00
14	Angelo perera	2	1		1		20

Kusal Perera will be looking to improve his batting stats while big names like Dilshan and Sangakara look to be in prime form with batting averages of 67.2 and 63.21 respectively in the last 12 months. Chandimal and Priyanjan will be working to consolidate their places in the team in the absence of Jayawardane who left Bangladesh due to injury. Vithanage might be replaced with the young big hitter Angelo Perera, or maybe with Kulasekara if they want to strengthen their bowling lineup. Lakmal who looked in form in the test series might be replaced with in form Kulasekara if they play with 7 batsmen. Thisara who was recently purchased in the IPL also looks a strong contender to replace Vithanage at number 7. The Sri Lankan 11 does not look as settled as the Bangladeshi line up and I believe that all players will be given a try before the Asian Cup which also begins this month in Dhaka.

Sri Lanka has a cumulative team batting average of about 260 which goes up to 300 in the last 12 months, with a team strike rate at an average of about 89 per 100 balls in the last year.

Both Dilshan and Sangakara’s wickets will be key for Bangladesh to keep their winning streak going.

Bowling

Bangladesh:

Sl.	Bowler	Match	Wkts	Economy		4 Wkt
				Career	Last 1 yr
1	Shakib	129	161	4.31	5.33	4
2	Mashrafe	129	164	4.66	6	5
3	Rubel	43	56	5.57	6.06	4
4	Mahmudullah	94	57	5.05	5.1
5	Gazi	11	16	4.36	5.38	1
6	Shafiul Islam	49	56	5.8	5.92	4

Shakib and Mashrafe with 325 ODI wickets between them will be leading the attack with support from Rubel, Mahmudullah and Arafat Sunny who is yet to play ODI cricket. Shafiul Islam might get an opportunity in place of Rubel somewhere in the series but Alamin will probably have to wait in line. Razzak who suffered an injury during the test series will be badly missed as he is by far the best ODI bowler for Bangladesh with over 200 ODI wickets and an outstanding economy rate at about 4.5 per over. Consideration of dew factor might allow Shafiul Islam a place ahead of Sohag Gazi who looked ordinary in the T20 series.

Bowling

Sri Lanka:

Sl.	Bowler	Match	Wkts	Economy		4 Wkt
				Career	Last 1 yr
1	Malinga	160	242	5.15	5.73	8
2	Mendis	66	110	4.39	4.45	5
3	Lakmal	20	27	5.99	5.17
4	Senanayke	21	18	4.74	4.58
5	Mathews	113	69	4.51	4.32	1
6	Kulasekara	146	161	4.68	5.39	3
7	Dilshan	275	76	4.74	4.4	3
8	Thisara Perera	67	85	5.55	6.06	3

Malinga and Mendis will be leading the Sri Lankan attack with 352 wickets between them with Lakmal, Senanayke and Mathews providing support unless they decide to play an extra bowler with either Kulasekara or Thisara Perera who also are wicket takers in this form of the game. Mathews, Senanayke and Dilshan have outstanding economy rates in the last year with stats as good as 4.32, 4.58 and 4.4 in the last 12 months. Bangladeshi batsmen will have to find ways to rotate the strike at regular intervals against these seemingly innocuous but sneaky bowlers to build challenging totals.

Opinion:

The batting of both teams look evenly matched with Sri Lanka relying heavily on star batsmen Dilshan and Sangakara, while Bangladesh will be looking for good starts from Tamim Iqbal and Shamsur Rahman. The Sri Lankan bowling looks slightly ahead in terms of form but the local bowlers will be expected to handle conditions better. Sri Lanka may have adjusted to local conditions by now but the huge crowd support for the tigers will keep them slightly ahead. Early breakthroughs for both teams will be crucial. Sangakara and Dilshan will be key wickets for Bangladesh while Tamim, Shamsur and inform Anamul will be crucial wickets to disrupt flow of runs in the beginning. Nasir and Mahmudullah down at number 6 and 7 respectively make Bangladesh appear to have a seemingly deeper batting line up but only the result of the series will say who have a stronger lineup ahead of the Asian Cup which is also scheduled at the end of this month.

Disclaimer:

All stats from Stasguru cricinfo till February 14, 2014

Last 1 year means matches played between February 14, 2013 to Feb 14, 2014. 

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