Bangladesh will know a win against Ireland Friday in Dharamsala and they will have a foot and a half in the Super 10 stage of the ICC World T20 2016. It will be far from easy, however, against an Ireland team desperate to bounce back from the shock defeat to Oman Wednesday.
The Asia Cup finalists were far from impressive against the Netherlands in their opening match, but their better experience at the grander stage helped them get over the line in the end.
Tamim Iqbal was the key man in the victory, scoring a brilliant 83, when everyone else around him stumbled and tumbled with the willow. Once Tamim's knock ensured the Bangladesh bowlers would have something to defend, the men with the white cherry did just that, a few nervy moments towards the end notwithstanding.
A win over the Irish Friday will get them to within a victory – and they may not even need that – of the main round of the World T20, but Bangladesh go into this match at the HPCA Stadium with a bit of a cloud hanging around two of their bowlers, one a key component to their attack.
Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny were reported for suspect actions after the match against the Netherlands, and while the two of them can continue bowling, what their frame of mind will be remains to be seen.
Waiting to pounce on any doubts will be Ireland, who will still be reeling from that defeat to Oman. When it looked like they had the match under control, after dismissing the openers, Amir Ali came to the fore from nowhere to snatch victory for the Asian team.
Ireland have, of course, done the "upset" over bigger teams several teams in the past, so it would have been difficult for them to be on the other side of the coin this time around.
However, the Irish have shown their quality and bouncebackability several times, and it is those powers they will need to conjure to have to beat a Bangladesh side highly fancied to waltz into the main round of the WT20.
Where to Watch Live
Bangladesh vs Ireland is set to begin at 7.30 p.m. IST (2 p.m. GMT, 9 a.m. ET), with Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2 providing live TV coverage of the match in India and the rest of the subcontinent. Viewers from the India and South Asia can watch Bangladesh play Ireland by live streaming online on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Bangladesh TV will also broadcast the match live in Bangladesh. Sky Sports 2 will show the match live in the UK and Ireland, while the action can also be live streamed on Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
OSN Sports Cricket HD and OSN Play are the places to be to watch the WT20 match live in the Middle East and North Africa. Audience in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa can watch the World T20 action live on SuperSport, with the online live stream option SuperSport Live Video.
Willow TV and Willow TV Online will broadcast the game live in the US and Canada.
Fox Sports will show the WT20 game live in Australia, while the live streaming option is on Foxtel. Sky Sport and Sky Go NZ are the options to watch the match live in New Zealand.
