CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s T20 World Cup in February.<\/p>\n
Speaking today at a press conference in Chattogram, Heinrich Malan (Ireland Men\u2019s head coach), said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve shown some real progress over the last two games. There\u2019s a lot that we did really, really well over the last two games, and there\u2019s a few areas that we always look at that we want to try and improve on. We\u2019ve 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\u2019ve done in the first two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started this series, we were clear that is part of our T20 World Cup build up. We obviously haven\u2019t had the amount of cricket that we would have wanted throughout the year, but that\u2019s in the past. We\u2019re now just focusing on where we\u2019re at. In the first two games have really shown the clarity of thought that we\u2019ve put into it, the process that we\u2019re looking for. The T20 game has evolved massively over the last little period and I think we\u2019ve identified that we want to free our players up to go out there and express themselves \u2013 and I think we\u2019ve seen that in the last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at Tim Tector \u2013 he\u2019s come into the team environment and played really, really well. He\u2019s been doing that for a while in our domestic competition, but it\u2019s great to see him just go out there and play his natural game. And that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019ve asked him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Tector said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2019ll have to wait and see. We\u2019ll have a good training session shortly \u2013 at a similar time to what the game is \u2013 so we might get a fair idea on how it will play.<\/p>\n
\u201cPowerplay batting, for me, is about trying to take the game to the bowlers. I like to move laterally \u2013 not only to keep my body moving, but also it allows me to access different parts of the ground. It\u2019s not about pre-meditating every ball \u2013 it\u2019s more about knowing what I\u2019m looking to do and being both confident and clear about what that is. I know I\u2019ve got a couple of starts, and have obviously been disappointed about getting out, but I don\u2019t mind I\u2019m getting out taking the aggressive option \u2013 getting out while looking to keep that momentum going outside the powerplay instead of trying to bat for a score. That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously very cool batting with Harry \u00a0[Tector, Tim\u2019s brother] out there. I mean, we\u2019ve done it for quite a while now in our club stuff, and in our domestic stuff at home, so it didn\u2019t 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\u2019s a real family thing. Our eldest brother Jack was captain of the Under-19s at a World Cup \u2013 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\u2019s broken into the women\u2019s team. We\u2019ve all played in the same club pretty much throughout our journey, and we all love it. Maybe it\u2019s rare that every family member loves playing the same sport, but it\u2019s great that we all get along with it, and we all love playing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
MATCH DETAILS<\/p>\n
\u00a0Ireland Men \u2013 T20I Squad<\/p>\n
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)<\/p>\n
The match details are:<\/p>\n
2 December: Bangladesh Men v Ireland Men \u2013 3rd\u00a0T20I (Chattogram; 2pm start)<\/p>\n
*\u00a0 Bangladesh time<\/p>\n