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in on this afternoon at 1.30pm and the tour-ending fixture is also set for the same venue tomorrow afternoon. Having conquered in the 50-over format, Zimbabwe have high hopes they will clinch the T20 series as well, as they hope to maintain their winning form going into this weekend’s games where they hope to break their 16-match losing streak in this format.
The hosts last won a T20 game in February 2012 when they beat the West Indies but their other wins against Bangladesh and South Africa last year were in unofficial matches.
Zimbabwe captain, Brendan Taylor, says they face a stiff challenge going into this afternoon’s game which will be key of they are to win the T20 series and mark a very successful showdown against the Tigers.
“It is a format that we have not played a lot in but playing at home after winning this (ODI) series, I know we have some momentum we can take in going into the T20,” said Taylor.
“This surface will suite them and their stroke-play so we have to be hitting the ground hard and running, try to put in a good early performance and hope that will be good enough for us to try and win the series.
“There is still room for improvement, if we can win that then that will be very good for.
“They (Bangladesh) definitely are going to be a tough team to beat in that format of the game.
“This has been the third series win for me in a long-time, it’s big for the guys and it’s just going to give the players the self belief, playing at home we always feel we can compete and win at home so we are just over the moon really going into the T20s.”
However, Bangladesh are not looking at going back home empty-handed and having drawn the Test series and lost the ODI series, they have indicated they will give it their best shot in the shortest format of the game.
They also want to give departing skipper Mushfiqur Rahim a befitting send-off.
Mushfiqur said during a press conference on Wednesday that this would be his last assignment as the captain of Bangladesh.
Former Zimbabwe captain and spinner Prosper Utseya believes the slow bowlers have a big part to play.
“The wicket here favours the batsmen but as a unit (bowling) we have to step up because we definitely are going to be key and have to largely contribute to the game in order to put us in the winning position.
“We bowled well in the 50-over format but we have to know that we are now in the shorter version of the game and the most important thing here is that we have to reduce our margin of error.
“We have confidence and we also have accurate bowlers to do the job for us.
“As a bowling group I am sure we can do it because statistics in the recent games we have played have shown that our bowling standards have gone up, we have a large pool of bowlers to chose from so we have the depth,” said Utseya.
Zimbabwe were also bolstered by the return of pacer Brian Vitori in the third and final ODI on Wednesday after more than a year away from international cricket and took two early wickets.
“Brian has generally done well against Bangladesh and it is good to have him back in the line-up after such a long time,” said Utseya.
“It is really not easy to bounce back especially after such a long time but he did so in style.
“In T20 the batsmen have found a way of scoring more runs quicker and can get to 200 easily.
“I do not believe that I have not been bowling well but if one can maintain an economy of say five per over then it is okay.
“I am now the more senior bowler, I have more responsibilities and have to bowl more overs.”
Zimbabwe will be without all-rounder Elton Chigumbura who failed to recover in time to take his place in the team.
“All-rounder Elton Chigumbura is out of the Zimbabwe squad for the Teletalk 3G Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh, after failing to recover from the right groin strain he suffered while bowling during the third and final Teletalk 3G One-Day International match against the tourists,” Lovemore Banda, the ZC Media and Communications Manager, said in a statement.
Zimbabwe Team
1 Brendan Taylor (Captain, Wkt-keeper)
2 Sikandar Raza Butt
3 Tendai Chatara
4 Kyle Jarvis
5 Timycen Maruma
6 Hamilton Masakadza
7 Shingirai Masakadza
8 Natsai M’shangwe
9 Tinotenda Mutombodzi
10 Tinashe Panyangara
11 Vusimuzi Sibanda
12 Prosper Utseya
13 Brian Vitori
14 Malcolm Waller
15 Sean Williams
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