After a false start in the first One-Day International (ODI) which ended in a rain-hit no result, Bangladesh will hope for a rain-free day when they take on Ireland for the second ODI at the County ground in Chelmsford, England today (Friday).
The match will begin at 3:45pm and will be live streamed on the ICC website (icc.tv).
The first match got washed out due to rain after the Tigers posted 246-9 after being asked to bat first. Bangladesh then reduced Ireland to 65-3 in 16.3 overs before the rain arrived, reports news agency BSS.
With rain in the forecast, captain Tamim Iqbal has the choice to introduce spinners from two ends to complete 20 overs as early as possible, which would bring Duckworth and Lewis (DLS) into play to determine the result.
Ireland were well behind the DLS score and had that remained the same, Bangladesh could’ve won that match had they bowled at least 20 overs.
Tamim, however, chose the safer option to continue with his pacers and not give Ireland the opportunity to get ahead of the DLS par score.
Meanwhile, batter Najmul Hossain Shanto, who made 44, second highest in the match after Mushfiqur Rahim’s 61, said the batter couldn’t bat as it was expected.
"The wicket was batting friendly and it was possible to score 290-300 runs. But what we did was to assess the wicket first before going after the bowlers that didn't go well for us," Shanto said after the match.
"We couldn't build up any significant partnership, which was another point to note. If we can build up a good partnership we can give us a shot to put up 300 plus total."
Bangladesh had just two fifty plus partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz adding 65 and Shanto and Towhid Hridoy combining for 50 runs.
"The top order batters need to take responsibility. But unfortunately we couldn't make our start count. It was our duty to make the partnership bigger but we failed to do this. Hopefully we will learn from the mistakes. Hopefully we will have a full game in the next match and we'll take a lead," he added.
Bangladesh have been dominant against Ireland in ODIs in past meetings, winning nine out of 14 encounters, losing just twice while three matches ended in a no result.
Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal (c), Liton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury
Ireland squad: Andy Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young