CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh – Ireland Men face Bangladesh Men tomorrow in a T20I series decider, with the three-match series locked 1-1. A win for Ireland would mean a slice of history, as it would be the first time Ireland Men will win a series against a Full Member of the ICC in Asia.

With the series level, both sides are keen to claim a win tomorrow to give themselves confidence and momentum as they build towards the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in February.

Speaking today at a press conference in Chattogram, Heinrich Malan (Ireland Men’s head coach), said:

“We’ve shown some real progress over the last two games. There’s a lot that we did really, really well over the last two games, and there’s a few areas that we always look at that we want to try and improve on. We’ve got a nice opportunity at training this afternoon to put some work into that space and then come out here tomorrow and hopefully build on what we’ve done in the first two games.

“When we started this series, we were clear that is part of our T20 World Cup build up. We obviously haven’t had the amount of cricket that we would have wanted throughout the year, but that’s in the past. We’re now just focusing on where we’re at. In the first two games have really shown the clarity of thought that we’ve put into it, the process that we’re looking for. The T20 game has evolved massively over the last little period and I think we’ve identified that we want to free our players up to go out there and express themselves – and I think we’ve seen that in the last week.

“Look at Tim Tector – he’s come into the team environment and played really, really well. He’s been doing that for a while in our domestic competition, but it’s great to see him just go out there and play his natural game. And that’s exactly what we’ve asked him to do.”

Tim Tector said:

“The first two games were night games but tomorrow will be different in that it is a day game. The pitch tomorrow might be slightly drier without the dew, but we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll have a good training session shortly – at a similar time to what the game is – so we might get a fair idea on how it will play.

“Powerplay batting, for me, is about trying to take the game to the bowlers. I like to move laterally – not only to keep my body moving, but also it allows me to access different parts of the ground. It’s not about pre-meditating every ball – it’s more about knowing what I’m looking to do and being both confident and clear about what that is. I know I’ve got a couple of starts, and have obviously been disappointed about getting out, but I don’t mind I’m getting out taking the aggressive option – getting out while looking to keep that momentum going outside the powerplay instead of trying to bat for a score. That’s the way this team wants to play. We want to keep that momentum going outside the powerplay and keep looking to put big totals on the board.

“It’s obviously very cool batting with Harry  [Tector, Tim’s brother] out there. I mean, we’ve done it for quite a while now in our club stuff, and in our domestic stuff at home, so it didn’t feel that different batting with him. Obviously, a slightly bigger occasion out here, but I do recognise that playing together on the same international side is an unbelievable privilege. It’s a real family thing. Our eldest brother Jack was captain of the Under-19s at a World Cup – actually, I think it was out here in Bangladesh. And then Harry did the same, I did the same. We also have a little sister, Alice, who’s broken into the women’s team. We’ve all played in the same club pretty much throughout our journey, and we all love it. Maybe it’s rare that every family member loves playing the same sport, but it’s great that we all get along with it, and we all love playing it.”

MATCH DETAILS

 Ireland Men – T20I Squad

Paul Stirling (captain) (Northern Knights)Mark Adair (Lisburn / Northern Knights)Ben Calitz (Lisburn / Northern Knights)Curtis Campher (Clontarf / Munster Reds)Gareth Delany (Leinster / Munster Reds)George Dockrell (Phoenix / Leinster Lightning)Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn / Northern Knights)Josh Little (Pembroke / Leinster Lightning)Barry McCarthy (Pembroke / Leinster Lightning)Jordan Neill (CSNI / Northern Knights)Harry Tector (Pembroke /Leinster Lightning)Tim Tector (Pembroke / Leinster Lightning)Lorcan Tucker (Pembroke / Leinster Lightning)Ben White (Phoenix / Munster Reds)Craig Young (North Down / North West Warriors)

The match details are:

2 December: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men – 3rd T20I (Chattogram; 2pm start)

*  Bangladesh time

Fans can watch the match on Youtube.