Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 1st ODI, Match Prediction: Who will win the match?

The series is expected to be quite a dead rubber with the hosts going in as the firm favourites.

Published - 20 Oct 2018, 18:19 IST | Updated - 20 Oct 2018, 18:19 IST

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The first ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The three-match ODI series will be followed by two Tests. The series is expected to be quite a dead rubber with the hosts going in as the firm favourites.

However, the side will be missing their veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. At the same time, it gives the management an opportunity to explore the other options ahead of the World Cup 2019. Also, they will want to try out various permutations and combinations to have a good idea of what works best for them.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, is going in with quite an experienced side. It is more or less the same team which witnessed whitewashes against Pakistan and South Africa in recent times. But, they didn’t let the Proteas win the series very easily and competed to the best of their ability. The entire unit will like to tick a few more boxes regarding their batting in this 3-match ODI series.

Pitch and weather

Bangladesh last played an ODI on 27 January 2018 against the Lankans at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. It wasn’t a really high scoring encounter back then and it is expected to be somewhat similar. The pitch offers assistance to the bowlers with the new ball and batsmen can score runs once they get their eye in.

The fast bowlers should enjoy bowling in the second innings as the humidity levels rise up to 85 per cent during the course of the day. The should help them extract some swing.

Team Combinations

Bangladesh:

Liton Das, who was highly impressive in the Asia Cup final, will open the innings alongside Nazmul Hossain Shanto who has got a lot to prove. Imrul Kayes is expected to be slotted at number three and will be followed by the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim. Rahim will also be donning the gloves. Mithun, all-rounders Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan will follow up. Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Nazmul Islam will complete the bowling lineup.

Probable XI: Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Nazmul Islam

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe will have their formidable opening pair of Hamilton Masakadza and Soloman Mire to open the innings. There aren’t much of surprises in the line-up. Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Peter Moor will be the other batsmen in the line-up. Taylor will be taking the responsibilities behind the stumps with the gloves.

Elton Chigumbura will fill up the shoes of a bowling all-rounder. Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Tendai Chatara will be the rest of the three bowlers. Since they’ve got a lot of batsmen who can roll their arms over, the skipper has got an additional luxury of going with more batters.

Probable XI: Hamilton Masakadza (C), Soloman Mire, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Peter Moor, Elton Chigumbura, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Tendai Chatara