Today, in the first one-day international of the three-game series being played in Chelmsford, England, Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and elected to have his team’s opponents, Bangladesh, bat first.
After winning the toss, the captain of Ireland, Balbirnie, declared, “Will try to turn this into our home for this week, and have a good week.” Tamim Iqbal, the captain of the Bangladeshi team, stated that they will field three fast bowlers. “After the first ten overs, when it stops swinging, I think it will be a very good wicket,” he continued. “When it stops swinging, it will be a very good wicket.”
For Ireland to have any chance of directly qualifying for the One-Day International World Cup this year, they will need to win all three matches in the series, at least one of which must be won by a significant margin.
Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakin Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain
Paul Stirling, Stephen Doheny, Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Andrew McBrine, Mark Adair, Graham Hume, and Josh Little make up the Ireland XI. Andrew Balbirnie is the captain of the team.