Ireland head coach eyes series win against Bangladesh

Chattogram [Bangladesh], December 1 (ANI): Ireland opened the T20I series against Bangladesh with a commanding 39-run victory in Chattogram and came close to doubling their lead in the second match, only for the hosts to clinch the game with two balls remaining. With the series level, both sides will be hungry to win the decider as they aim to build confidence and momentum leading into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. Ireland men's head coach Heinrich Malan echoed this sentiment, highlighting the progress his team has shown across the first two matches.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of the third T20I, Malan said that although the team didn't play as much cricket as they wanted this year, they are now focused on the present as part of their T20 World Cup preparations.

"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," Malan said as per the ICC website.

"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," he said further.

Malan also spoke about how the shortest form of the game has evolved and that the team is keen on expressing themselves to adapt to the change.

"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," Malan said.

"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.

Batting star Harry Tector played an important role in Ireland's victory in the first T20I, but the game was even more special for the family, as it saw the Tector brothers play together and share a partnership at the crease.

Younger brother Tim spoke about playing with Harry,

"It's obviously very cool batting with Harry [Tector] 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."

While Harry has already excelled for the European side at the international stage, it is still early days for Tim.

But the youngster remained hopeful of leaving a mark, while sticking to team's cricketing philosophy.

"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."

Ireland will look to carry forward the same energy into the World Cup starting February 7 next year, where they are in Group B clubbed alongside Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and Oman.

They will face Sri Lanka in Colombo on February 8 in their opening game of the marquee tournament. (ANI)

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