Sports Desk:

Bangladesh are determined to leave behind their painful defeat jinx since the World Cup as they are eying to seal the final of the Tri-nation series T20 by winning the return-leg match against Zimbabwe.

The match starts at 6:30pm at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattagram today.

Zimbabwe’s two defeats in a row in Dhaka part of the tournament basically kept the hosts in an advantageous position to confirm their final berth with a match to go. If Bangladesh win the match, Afghanistan, the other team of the tournament will also seal final alongside Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s win against Zimbabwe in todays’s match also means that Afghanistan’s two matches in Chattagram part will be game of just formalities.

Afghanistan who won two straight matches in Dhaka against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will start their return leg match in Chattagram on Friday by taking on Zimbabwe.

But what would give Afghanistan an advantage is not the headache of Bangladesh who has been in a position of embarrassment following their 25-run loss to Rashid Khan’s side in Dhaka.

Bangladesh earlier lost their one-off Test game to Afghanistan and Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of the side said that a Tri-series victory only could help them get the lost pride back.

So when they lost to Afghanistan in T20 also, the pride is at stake. But for the time being Bangladesh is eying to seal the spot in final though they are not ready to take any added burden.

“Whenever we play every match, we play to win. We have two-three matches if we play in the final. So not thinking in that way, we should play the match to win, not like we will play to set the final,” Mosaddek Hossain Saikat told reporters adding that it is true that their confidence is low at the moment.

“If batsmen are not making runs then their confidence is low, that’s normal. We lost the match with around short of 20 runs. So with a low confidence level, if we lose the match with 20 runs I think if we can execute in a better, it will be easier for us to win the match,” he said.

Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe by three wickets in the first game after a lot of hardship. The two teams so far played 10 times with Bangladesh winning six games in contrast of Zimbabwe’s four.

But the Southern African nations had already proved that they are not a mere pushover. When Bangladesh plotted a final spot, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sean Williams said they won’t leave the space without any fighting.

“It’s a must-win game for us and the pressure is on the host rather than us,” Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Williams told reporters ahead of the crucial game.

“Look, like I said we focus on what we need to do and everything will take care of itself. They are under pressure we know that. Again, it goes to back to basics,” he concluded.