Tigers confident for winning start in their favourite format

The three-match bilateral ODI series between hosts Bangladesh and visiting Sri Lanka is set to kick off today at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. Both hosts and guests are eager for a winning start.

The day-night affair will commence at 2:30pm (BST).

The rivals last met in the World Cup, a match the Tigers won by three wickets after Shakib Al Hasans all-round performance, but it became historic due to the first-ever "timed-out" debate. Shakib is not playing today, but Bangladesh carries the sweet memory of the win against New Zealand with the absence of the ace all-rounder. Anamul Haque Bijoy and Soumya Sarkar opened the innings during the New Zealand tour and performed well. Soumya played a 169-run knock in the second match, while Bijoy played a couple of innings with scores exceeding 35.
Liton Das is expected to bat at four, while skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto will bat at three. Mushfiqur Rahim, Tawhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah will stabilize the batting lineup. Mehidy Hasan Miraz is the lone all-rounder in the squad, with Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Sakib and Taskin playing as specialist quicks.

Sri Lanka, having sealed series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan after the World Cup, will field almost all the players from the World Cup squad that played against Bangladesh, except all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva and opener Kusal Perera. Charith Asalanka hit a century in that match, while Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama had good knocks.

Avishka Fernando, who has been struggling with the bat in T20I matches, may open in ODIs, but Angelo Mathews will be the one to watch.

The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry has gained significant coverage in recent days, especially after the Nidhas Trophy in 2018, further fueled by Angelo Mathewss imed-out incident in the last World Cup. In the recently concluded T20i series, the TV umpires contradictory not-out decision, Tawhid Hridoys reaction and Sri Lankas bizarre celebration after winning the series indicate additional excitement in the ODI series.

The Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium produces a lot of turn with substantial help for batters in the first half. The weather forecast shows no interruptions and the toss-winning side will likely prefer to bat first and post as many runs as possible.