ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will face a confident Bangladesh side in the second T20I cricket contest between the two sides today, Tuesday, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. 

Pakistan will look to shrug off a disappointing seven-wicket defeat at the hands of the hosts on Sunday. The visitors struggled against a disciplined Bangladesh bowling attack to get dismissed for 110. Bangladesh managed to successfully chase the target with over 20 balls to spare. This was Bangladesh’s largest such victory over Pakistan and their fifth largest overall. 

“The second T20 International of three-match series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played in Dhaka today,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday.

Pakistan white-ball Head Coach Mike Hesson last week blamed the first T20I defeat on the Dhaka pitch, describing it as “unacceptable.” However, he also admitted the visitors made some poor choices while batting, which included three run-outs as well. 

“I think (the pitch) is not ideal for anybody,” Hesson said at the post-match conference on Sunday. “Teams are trying to prepare for the Asia Cup or the (T20) World Cup. It is not acceptable.”

If Pakistan win against Bangladesh today, it will level the three-match T20I series between the two nations 1-1 before the final is played in Dhaka on July 24. 

Pakistan’s left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman is 107 runs away from becoming just the fifth Pakistani to score 2,000 T20I runs. 

Bangladesh (Probable XI): Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Litton Das (captain), Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali (wicketkeeper), Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Mohammad Nawaz, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza and Abrar Ahmed.