Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to bat first in the third and final T20 International against Bangladesh in Bulawayo, with the series currently tied at 1-1.
Zimbabwe is aiming to complete a clean sweep of all three trophies on offer during Bangladesh's tour, having already secured victory in the one-off Test and the One-Day International series by a 2-1 margin. Bangladesh bounced back from a defeat in the opening T20I to dominate the second match, setting up this winner-takes-all decider.
The visitors are playing without pace bowler Nahid Rana, who suffered a side strain on Friday and left the field after bowling 2.3 overs. Although he was monitored by medical staff ahead of a late fitness call, the team opted to leave him out of the XI with an upcoming tour of Australia on the horizon. Rana has been replaced by Abdul Gaffar Saqlain in one of two changes for Bangladesh. Additionally, Nurul Hasan has been benched to bring in allrounder Mosaddek Hossain, leaving Parvez Hossain Emon to take over wicketkeeping duties.
Zimbabwe made a tactical adjustment of their own, taking into account the Bulawayo pitch, which has offered bounce and carry earlier in the week but has shown signs of becoming more spin-friendly. The hosts replaced lower-order batter Tashinga Musekia with seamer Tino Maposa. This selection gives Zimbabwe a bowling attack consisting of four quicks, medium-pacer Dion Myers, and three spin options. The change also promotes Brad Evans, who has been in excellent batting form, up to number eight.
This match is the final fixture of Bangladesh's all-format tour. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will look to carry positive momentum into their next assignment, as they host India for three T20Is starting next week.
Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Milton Shumba, 7 Clive Madande, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Tinotenda Maposa, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani.
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Parvez Hossain Emon (wk), 4 Towhid Hridoy (capt), 5 Yasir Ali, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Rishad Hossain, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Mahedi Hasan, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Abdul Gaffar Saqlain.
Bangladesh were looking to end a disappointing series on a high•Zimbabwe Cricket
