Sport Desk: Bangladesh will hope to end their losing streak against Afghanistan before facing them in the final when the hosts take on the side in the last league match of the tri-nation Twenty20 series in Chattogram today.

The match is scheduled to start at 6:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time and will be telecast live on BTV and GTV.

The Tigers suffered a 25-run defeat in their earlier encounter against Afghanistan in the tri-nation, their fourth defeat on the trot against the Asian side in the shortest format, which came after they suffered a humiliating 224-run defeat against the same opponents in the recent one-off Test.

However, Bangladesh managed to qualify for the final of the tri-nation after beating Zimbabwe in both of their league matches in Dhaka and Chattogram respectively.

With both the teams already in the final, Bangladesh will be hoping to defeat Afghanistan in the last league match and take that confidence to the final.

‘Tomorrow’s [Today’s] match is very important for us. If we can play well, our confidence will increase,’ pacer Shafiul Islam told reporters in Chattogram on Friday.

The Tigers bounced back from the Afghanistan defeat with a 39-run win against Zimbabwe on Wednesday with Mahmudullah hitting a brilliant fifty and Shafiul and debutant leggie Aminul Islam grabbing five wickets between them.

Shafiul, who represented Bangladesh in the 20-over format after nearly two years against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, hoped that their win in the last match would inspire them to improve their performance.

‘We won the previous match and I think the habit will inspire us in the final,’ he said.

In their Dhaka-leg match against Afghanistan, Bangladesh reduced the visitors to 40-4 but let them post 164-6 and fell 25 runs short in the chase by getting all-out for 139 runs in 19.5 overs.

Shafiul felt that they needed to fix their mistakes of the previous Afghanistan match and put in a 100 per cent effort to turn their favours today.

‘If we can rectify our mistakes and give our 100 per cent effort, I think that we can defeat them,’ he said.

Bangladesh have an injury concern in their squad with Aminul hurting his non-bowling arm, which made the 17-year old unlikely to feature in the rest of the series.

Whoever replaces the spinner in the team would have to bowl in good areas to come good for the team, said Shafiul.

‘The team management will think about it. Whether a spinner plays or a pacer, if he can bowl in good areas and within his limits, then he will do well,’ he added.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, will be looking to continue their dominance over Bangladesh and carry their unbeaten streak against the hosts into the final.

Before the match against Zimbabwe on Friday, Afghanistan had won all 12 of their previous Twenty20 international matches – a world record and they will be hoping to continue the winning streak in the format.