Bangladesh will host Zimbabwe in the first T20 of the four-match series at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna on Friday.
Good news for the Bangla Tigers is that their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will return to the playing XI after missing out on the last couple of series. This will give the host a major boost ahead of the T20 series. Shakib will also try and get into shape before the upcoming Asia Cup T20 and the ICC World T20 2016.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza made it clear that they are looking to get their combinations right ahead of the two big tournaments that will follow.
"We will look into various combinations but whether we get a result out of it is a different issue. We feel that this is the time for trying such things," Mortaza told reporters ahead of the 1st T20 against ZImbabwe.
Meanwhile, ZImbabwe will look to avoid yet another series defeat when they will face a formidable force in the form of Bangladesh and that too at the latter's backyard. Zimbabwe is very much aware of the fact that the hosts have not lost a single limited-over-format series at home since February 2014.
Zimbabwe were handed a ODI and T20 series defeat by Afghanistan in the recently-concluded series in the United Arab Emirates. The hapless hosts will look to let go off whatever happened in that tour and hope to bounce back as early as they can.
"We have to play our own game and polish where we went wrong in the past and hopefully have a good game," Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said.
The pitch will be a good batting one at Khulna; 150-160 will be a par score as the boundaries are short. The dew factor will come into play in the second half of the match.
Probable XI's:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Arafat Sunny, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain.
Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Sean Williams, Malcolm Waller, Sikandar Raza, Elton Chigumbura (C), Luke Jongwe, Graeme Cremer, Tendai Chisoro, Neville Madziva.
Where to watch live:
The 1st T20 between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is scheduled for a 3pm local time (2:30 pm IST, 9 am GMT & 11 am Zimbabwe Time) start. Neo Prime will broadcast the game live in the Indian subcontinent.
The viewers in Bangladesh can watch the 1st T20 live on Gazi TV. Fans can also stream the match on GeoSuper.
The audience watching the game in the US can catch the action live on Willow TV, while Willow TV Online will provide the live stream option.
The viewers in the Middle East and North Africa will be able to watch Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe live on OSN Sports 4 and HD 4, while the match can be live streamed on OSN Play.
Folks in Zimbabwe can also catch the live action of the 1st T20 between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe on Ten Sports.
