Can Bangladesh earn consolation win?

	Can Mohammad Ashraful leave Pakistan with a knock worth remembering? © AFP

Match facts

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Start time 18.30 local time (13.00 GMT)
This is the first-ever Twenty20 international game to be held in Pakistan.

The Big Picture

In 22 ODI games since their win against South Africa in the World Cup, Bangladesh have lost 19, winning three against Ireland. Having suffered a whitewash in the ODI series, the Twenty20 game offers Bangladesh a final chance at redemption. Shakib Al Hasan pushed his case for captaincy with a consistent performance with the bat during the series but has lacked support from the top order.

Player to watch for Pakistan: Kamran Akmal hit a ferocious 81-ball hundred with 16 fours and a six in the third ODI and he would look to up the ante in the Twenty20 game. He has a strike-rate of 116.92 from 11 Twenty20 games but he would be looking to better his average of 15.20. Bangladesh's weak bowling attack gives him the chance to do exactly that.

Player to watch for Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal is an attacking player but with almost a suicidal instinct at the crease. He averaged 29.20 in the ODI series and has one final chance to leave his imprint on the tour. His weakness, like most of the Bangladesh top order, is a lack of patience and a tendency to charge out to the fast bowlers. It has led at times to some breathtaking assaults, as India experienced in the World Cup, but has led to his dismissals often. Eventually, it might come down to Shakib Al Hasan, the sole reliable performer in the line-up, to shoulder Bangladesh's burden again.

Team news

Pakistan have dropped Mohammad Yousuf, the highest run-scorer at this venue in ODIs for Pakistan, for the Twenty20 game. Yousuf was also left out of Pakistan's World Twenty20 team.

Pakistan (likely) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Shoaib Malik (capt), 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Nasir Jamshed, 8 Naumanullah, 9 Mohammad Asif, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Umar Gul.

Bangladesh (likely) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mashrafe Mortaza, 8 Farhad Reza, 9 Dhiman Ghosh (wk), 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Abdur Razzak.

Pitch and conditions

The format of the game obviously demands that the pitch to be loaded in the batsman's favour and the Karachi track is unlikely to be any different

Stats and trivia

Pakistan have won eight Twenty20 games and need just one more to become the team with the highest number of wins.

The National Stadium has been a lucky venue for Pakistan - they have won six out of seven day-night ODI games.

Quotes

"We have picked only the best possible side. I didn't take the decision alone, as selectors are also there."
Shoaib Malik responds to questions about Yousuf's omission

"If you reduce the overs in a match, the weaker side has a better chance. We don't have a McCullum who can go out and blast sides away, but who knows, we have some explosive guys. We'll have a chance."
Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, feels his team can cause an upset