Bangladesh will play against Ireland in their second Group-A qualifying round match at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCAS), Dharamsala, India on Friday.

The match will begin at 8pm Bangladesh time.

Riding on the unbeaten knock of 83 runs by dashing opener Tamim Iqbal, the Tigers started their tournament campaign with an eight-run victory over ICC associate nation the Netherlands at HPCAS on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ireland were upset by two wickets against Oman in their first match at the same venue on Wednesday.

Although Bangladesh enjoy an upper hand over Ireland, skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza thinks that the Irish will be a tough opponent than the Netherlands.

“Definitely, we’ve enhanced our confidence with the first win (against the Netherlands), but Ireland play T20 matches better. We’ll have to perform our level best to win that match,” Mashrafe said.

Bangladesh conceded a six-wicket defeat against Ireland in their first T20I encounter in the World T20 in England in June 2009.

Bangladesh whitewashed Ireland in a three-match T20I series at Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast, Ireland in July 2012. On the way to 3-0 series win, the Tigers crushed Ireland by 71 runs in the first match, won the 2nd match by one run and the third mach by 2 wickets.

In their remaining Group-A qualifying round match, Bangladesh will play against Oman on Sunday (March 13) at the same venue.

Bangladesh squad: Masrafe Bin Mortaza (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarker, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shabbir Rahaman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Haider Rony and Nurul Hasan Sohan.

Ireland squad: William Porterfield (captain), Andrerw Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Andrerw McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Andrerw Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson and Craig Young.

UNB/RI