Bangladesh vs Windies, 1st ODI, Preview: Caribbeans still in search of their first victory on the tour

After haplessly losing the two-match Test series, Windies will lock horns in the first of the three One-Day Internationals on Sunday. They continue to be without their regular skipper Jason Holder who has been ruled out of the tour and will be interesting to see the way the new captain Rovman Powell leads the side. Bangladesh will be keen to dominate the opposition with the spin once again and they are only bolstered with Tamim Iqbal’s return.

The Caribbean side have nothing to show on the tour so far as they’ve lost all the matches including the One-Day warm-up game apart from the two-day practice match. But they can take inspiration from their recent India tour where they kept the Men in Blue on the tenterhooks all the time with some aggressive batting. The visitors can do the same in this series as well and with Darren Bravo’s return, there will some calmness in the middle-order.

Tamim Iqbal is fit and raring to go for Bangladesh after getting injured badly in the Asia Cup. He will walk into the side and open the innings. The Tigers at home are near invincible in any format and with a full-strength side up their sleeve, Bangladesh are expected to roll over the tourists. Having said that, even India thought the same when they met Windies, but they had to bring back their best bowlers eventually to win the series.

Team Combinations

Bangladesh

Tamim Iqbal walks back at the top of the order and will open the innings along with the in-form Imrul Kayes who raked runs for fun against Zimbabwe. Soumya Sarkar will bat at three with the experience of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah to follow. Mustafizur Rahman and the skipper Mashrafe Mortaza will be the two pacers while Mehidy Hasan and Nazmul Islam are the two spinners in the line-up.

Probable XI: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nazmul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.

Windies

Kieran Powell will open with Shai Hope in the series opener with the former hoping to convert his starts while his partner is in excellent form in the limited-overs format. Like their opponents, even the Windies have experience in the middle-order with Bravo and Marlon Samuels while the swashbuckler Shimron Hetmyer follows next who will be the real threat for the hosts. Rovman Powell should look to lead from the front with Roston Chase, the all-rounder, adding value down the order.

Fabian Allen and Devendra Bishoo is a decent spin-attack with Kemar Roach and Oshane Thomas’ express pace set to trouble Bangladesh.

Probable XI: Kieran Powell, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell (C), Roston Chase, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Devendra Bishoo, Oshane Thomas.

Focus will be on

Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

The left-hander will be certainly itching to make a mark in his comeback game in Dhaka. He was extremely disappointed after being ruled out of the Asia Cup and won hearts by batting with one hand against Sri Lanka. Tamim is one of the legends of Bangladesh cricket and the fans will be delighted to see him and most importantly there will be some assurance for the home side at the top of the order.

Shimron Hetmyer (Windies)

This kid is scoring runs in all the formats in all the formats quickly and after a brilliant Test series on a personal note, Shimron Hetmyer will be looking forward to the ODI series. He shocked the Indian fans with his powerful batting display and next target will be Bangladesh who will employ a lot of spin-bowling in the series. It will be interesting to see how Hetmyer fares in this series and the result will also depend on him to an extent.

Head to Head

Overall – 31 | Bangladesh won – 9 | Windies won – 21 | NR – 2

Stat Attack

200 – Mashrafe Mortaza will be playing 200th ODI of his illustrious career.

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports Select 2, Star Sports Select 2 HD

Live Streaming – Hotstar

Match Timings – 12:30 IST; 13:00 local

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