A clean-sweep up for grabs in Mashrafe’s last match as captain
There is the small matter of a match where the Tigers can clean-sweep Zimbabwe 3-0 as the visitors look to finally win a match and salvage some pride.
As has been the theme this one day international (ODI) series, the story of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and his captaincy has dominated the headlines.
But that all came to a conclusion as he finally announced that he would be stepping down from the captaincy role after the third ODI.
There is the small matter of a match where the Tigers can clean-sweep Zimbabwe 3-0 as the visitors look to finally win a match and salvage some pride.
After the last match, where Bangladesh were given a big scare by Zimbabwe, in the end, the momentum will still be with the hosts.
They will be looking to give their captain a fitting farewell in the third ODI at Sylhet with one eye on the third leg of the Pakistan tour.
The way the top order batting has done for Bangladesh will please them but their bowling will definitely be under scrutiny to do well in the latter overs.
For Zimbabwe, the bowling has not been great either, despite getting good bounce and zip through the Sylhet pitch during the second ODI.
They will be looking for overall improvement and if they can restrict Bangladesh under 250, their batting should be able to do the job.
Team news
Soumya Sarkar was added to the squad with Mushfiqur Rahim dropped for the third ODI. But it is likely that either Mohammad Naim or Afif Hossain will take Mushfiq's place. The returns of Mohammad Saifuddin and Mustafizur Rahman are also on the cards as they bowled well in the first ODI. Naim could even replace Najmul Hossain Shanto, who suffered a finger injury in the second game.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das (wk), 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto/Mohammad Naim 4 Afif Hossain, 5 Mohammad Mithun, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mohammad Saifuddin 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Sean Williams is hopeful that Craig Ervine will recover from his flu to bolster the top-order. Captain Chamu Chibhabha's fitness is also a concern while batsman Timycen Maruma, pace bowler Chris Mpofu and left-arm spinner Ainsley Ndlovu are their other options in the squad.
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 2 Regis Chakabva, 3 Brendan Taylor (wk), 4 Sean Williams, 5 Wesley Madhevere, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Richmond Mutumbami, 8 Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 Charlton Tshuma, 11 Carl Mumba
Pitch and conditions
Both captains said that the Sylhet pitch is more uneven in the first half, and gets better as the game progresses into the evening. Mortaza also claimed there was dew in the evening, so the team winning the toss would look to bowl. Weather, however, doesn't bode well as there's rain in the forecast around the eastern part of the country.