Hosts Bangladesh will look for a series whitewash and the 10 points of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League on offer when they take on visitors Afghanistan in the third and final ODI at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city Monday.
The series has mostly been about Bangladesh showing character in their favorite format of cricket.
In the first game the hosts showed resilient fighting spirit to bounce back from a batting collapse and win the game.
While in the second match, Bangladesh had simply dominated the Afghans with both bat and ball to take a 2-0 lead with the third game still to be played.
The 20 points earned from the first two matches made Bangladesh ODI team emerge as the first side to make it to 100 points in the Super League.
With 10 wins in 14 games Bangladesh are at the summit in the league followed by England [95 points], India [79], Ireland [68], Sri Lanka [62] and others.
Bangladesh dressing room would be happy to finally get some grand and regular contributions from those considered young in the team.
In the first game it was Afif Hossain and Mehedi Hasan Miraz who stood up to the cause while in the second they saw Liton Das and right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed take the driving seat.
Concerns however, remain for Bangladesh with the top-order.
In the first match they were reeling on 45 for six which they overcame in the second with Liton Das firing his fifth ODI century alongside Mushfiqur Rahim’s 86.
In the last game of the series – the hosts will expect their captain and opener Tamim Iqbal and star all-rounder Shakib al Hasan to wield the willow.
The experienced duo had come into the tournament showing great form but missed out on contributing in the first two games.
Left-handed batter Tamim has been able to score 20 runs in two matches while Shakib batting at No 3 made 20 and 10 runs respectively.
They would also expect Mahmudullah and Yasir Ali to chip in if required.
It is a norm to keep winning combination untouched but if it becomes necessary there are options.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy can be looked at with the bat.
With the ball, pacer Ebadat Hossain might be handed his debut in the format.
For Afghanistan on the other hand, the worry has been with the batting unit.
They have tried to mix the combination at the top in the two matches but failed on both occasions.
The major contributions have come mainly from the middle-order.
Najibullah Zadran has already scored two half-centuries in the series –67 in the first and 54 in the second.
Opener Rahmat Shah has contributed for the team scoring a half-century – in the second game.
With the ball, their lethal spin attack consisting Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi have been to some extent neutralized by the hosts on pacer friendly surfaces.
Newbie left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi has been in the limelight producing praiseworthy first spells in the two games but the effort on both occasions went in vain.
Speaking of the deck at ZACS – there has been early assistance for the fast bowlers and tends to assist spinners a bit more as the game progresses.
The weather forecast shows clear skies in Chittagong.
The game is scheduled to begin at 11am local time.
