Bangladesh stick to same XI, opt for first strike as they eye series sweep

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is fit to play; Afghanistan bring back Gulbadin Naib in place of Farid Ahmed

Toss Bangladesh chose to bat against Afghanistan

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal expectedly opted to bat first after winning the toss against Afghanistan in the third and final ODI in Chattogram on Monday morning. Bangladesh didn’t name any changes – they have fielded the same XI for all three matches – as they look to seal a series sweep. This is the fourth time in their ODI history that Bangladesh have fielded an unchanged XI throughout a series of three or more matches.

The good news for the visitors is that Rahmanullah Gurbaz has shaken off his knee niggle, which kept him away from keeping duties in the second ODI. He was passed fit to play, and Afghanistan have made just one change: they brought back senior allrounder Gulbadin Naib and dropped left-arm quick Farid Ahmed, who was wayward with the new ball in the second game.

In the first, Afghanistan had Najibullah Zadran’s 67 to thank as they put up a below-par 215, but they then had Bangladesh reeling at 45 for 6, four of those wickets going to Fazalhaq Farooqi. Bangladesh got to the finish line in the penultimate over of the chase following an unbroken 174-run stand for the seventh wicket between Afif Hossain (91*) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (81*).

Then, in the second, Bangladesh scored 306 for 4, with Litton Das hitting 136 and Mushfiqur Rahim 86. The bowlers then made sure the chase was never on course, as they bowled Afghanistan out for 218.

Bangladesh: 1 Litton Das, 2 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Yasir Ali, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Riaz Hasan, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Gulbadin Naib, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi