Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first T20I against Zimbabwe. Captain Towhid Hridoy chose to field at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Yasir Ali and Nurul Hasan Sohan have returned to the Bangladesh XI. Yasir has gotten a chance in the T20I side after a long time. Sohan will handle the wicketkeeping duties.
Tanjid Hasan Tamim and Saif Hasan will open the batting for Bangladesh. Parvez Hossain Emon will bat at three, followed by captain Hridoy, Yasir and Sohan. Sheikh Mehedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin are the all-rounders.
Bangladesh’s bowling attack is structured around three pacers. Saifuddin will feature in the pace bowling line-up alongside Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana. Nasum Ahmed is the only specialist spinner.
After the toss, Hridoy said that since it was a day match, he decided to bowl first to take advantage of the early conditions. He hopes to carry forward the momentum gained from the third ODI win in the T20I series as well.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raja said he would have batted first had he won the toss. According to him, the Bulawayo pitch is a bit slower than Harare’s, and it could get even slower in the second innings. The hosts are playing with eight batters and three specialist pacers.
Bangladesh XI: Tanjid Hasan Tamim, Saif Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy (captain), Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan Sohan (wicketkeeper), Sheikh Mehedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana.
Zimbabwe XI: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raja (captain), Ryan Burle, Milton Shumba, Clive Madande (wicketkeeper), Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani.
