Tigers face uphill climb in 2nd T20I

Being thoroughly outclassed in the first game, Bangladesh will be looking to save the three-match T20I  series against West Indies when they take the field for the second game at the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida tomorrow.

The match, Bangladesh's first in the United States of America, will start at 6:00am on Sunday.

After winning the three-match ODI series 2-1, the Tigers got off to a disastrous start in the first T20I in St Kitts when they lost both openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar for first-ball ducks in the first over. Having later been reduced to 43 for four, Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim staged a mini recovery but the innings lost steam and sputtered to 143 for nine, a woefully inadequate total against the hard-hitting West Indians.

The West Indies, the current world champions in the format, then made a mockery of a revised target of 91 in 11 overs as Andre Russell hit the bowlers to all parts and took them home with 11 balls to spare.

Bangladesh will be facing much of the same tomorrow. The only hope for the Tigers could have been that the pitch in Lauderhill will be slow like the one that produced low-scoring games in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) last year. However, Shakib Al Hasan -- the only Bangladesh player to have played at the stadium during his CPL stint -- said that the pitch seemed to be quicker and better for batting.

That will doubtless suit the West Indian power hitters like Marlon Samuels, Russell, Evin Lewis and skipper Carlos Brathwaite.

For their part, to have a chance, Bangladesh will have to avoid the batting implosion that saw them surrender the initiative early in the first match. Even then, unless West Indies have an off day, form and class indicates that the series will be sealed before the final match on Monday.