The Bangladesh cricket team travelled to England early this month to participate in the ICC ODI Super League against Ireland. On May 9, the first match of the series between Bangladesh and Ireland will take place in Chelmsford. The match will start at 3:45 PM BDT time. It is an important series for Ireland as a 3-0 will help them direct entry to the ICC World Cup in India.

Although the Irish are easy opponents at home, it might be difficult for the Tigers to win in the English conditions. Unlike the series in Bangladesh in March, we may expect a competitive series in Chelmsford.

IRE vs BAN Preparation Match

Tamim Iqbal's team was scheduled to participate in the preparation match at Furners in Cambridge on May 5. However, the match was abandoned due to the rain. Even the toss couldn’t take place. The toss was scheduled to take place at 10:45 AM UK time but was not possible due to rain. After that, two hours passed like this. Later the rain stopped, but the match was declared abandoned due to a wet pitch.

Although the Bangladesh team travelled early to practise in England conditions, they could practise for only two days. Now Bangladesh will head to the first match without playing any warm-up match.

Read more: IRE vs BAN ODI Series 2023: Bangladesh Squad Analysis

Ireland vs Bangladesh 1st ODI Preview

Bangladesh last played in England in 2019. As a result, the Tigers will have to give a tough test on this wicket as they are not familiar with the current condition. Therefore, the preparation match would have been a great help for the Bangladesh team. But the Tigers are in good form, and it is expected that they will find an easy way to win the first ODI.

Furthermore, Bangladeshi players have been playing continuously from the beginning of the year. BPL, Dhaka Premier League, series against England and Ireland kept Bangladeshi players in continuous practice. So, there will not be any problem for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will have to take the challenge of the wicket if they want to win. The pitch conditions are completely different than in Bangladesh. If the game was played in June-July, it would have been an advantage for the Tigers as the wicket remains dry at that time. But now the weather is different, and the pitch condition will be a big challenge for Bangladesh as well as for Ireland.

Although this series is not so important for Bangladesh, it is a life-and-death battle for Ireland. Because if they beat Bangladesh by 3-0 in this series, the Irish will go directly to the World Cup with 30 points in the ICC ODI Super League. And if they fail to win 3-0, they will have to meet in Zimbabwe in June in the qualifiers.

Irish are more or less familiar with the England weather and pitch conditions. Therefore, they will plan accordingly to give a good fight to win the match as well as the series. However, the recent loss to Bangladesh last March may decrease their confidence. But, the Irish star bowler Joshua Little is joining the team, and this will surely boost the confidence.

Read More: Bangladesh Tour of Ireland 2023: Venue, Schedule, Fixtures, Previous Records

Probable Playing XI for Bangladesh Team

Tamim Iqbal (c), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.

Probable Playing XI for Ireland Team

Andy Balbirnie (c), Stephen Doheny, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Josh Little.

Key Bangladeshi Players to Watch

Although all of the Bangladeshi players are in good form, the following players may shine in the first ODI.

Towhid Hridoy

The young star has been in good form lately in his debut last month against the Irish. In his ODI debut, Towhid Hridoy made an impressive mark by scoring a total of 141 runs across two innings. His outstanding performance established a new record for the highest runs scored by a Bangladeshi player in a debut match. Although he had a great opportunity to become the first player in the fifth position to achieve a century, Hridoy fell just 8 runs short of the world record. Nonetheless, this achievement surpassed the previous record held by Nasir Hossain, who had scored 63 runs in his debut match for Bangladesh, making it a remarkable accomplishment for Hridoy after a span of 12 years.

Ebadot Hossain

Ebadot Hossain showcased exceptional skills as one of the leading wicket-takers during the recent series against Ireland, taking a total of 6 wickets. Particularly in the first ODI match, Ebadot delivered an impressive bowling display. Within his 6.5 overs, he successfully claimed 4 wickets, giving 42 runs without bowling any maiden overs. With an economy rate of 6.14, his ability to consistently apply pressure on the Irish batsmen through precise line and length was commendable. It was evident that Ebadot thoroughly understood the playing style of the Irish batsmen, raising anticipation for potentially incredible performances from him in the future.

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Key Irish Players to Watch

In this series, Irish fans will be looking for a great performance from their start bowler Joshua Little.

Joshua Little

He made history by becoming the first Irish cricketer to participate in the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL).Josh Little was not available to play in the tri-format series against Bangladesh in March. He joined IPL to play for Gujarat Titans. However, he will play the important matches of the ODI Super League to be held in England against Bangladesh.

Gujarat played against Rajasthan Royals on Friday, and Little left the IPL after this match. In that match, Little bowled very well in Gujarat's 9-wicket win over Rajasthan. Little already took 6 wickets in 8 matches in IPL 2023. His bowling average is 39.65, and his economy 8.20. So far, his best bowling figure in IPL is 2 for 25 runs and this experience will surely help him playing against Bangladesh.

Weather Conditions in Chelmsford

The County Ground in Chelmsford is renowned for its batsman-friendly pitch, providing an excellent surface for scoring runs. However, due to the cloudy weather, the bowlers can anticipate some early movement in the first ten or so overs, posing a challenge for the batters initially.

Nevertheless, once the batsmen settle in and adjust to the conditions, they will have the opportunity to capitalise on their form and make significant contributions. The forecast for the match in Chelmsford predicts cloudy weather with a possibility of a passing shower at some point during the day.

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Final Words

Bangladesh has a dominant record of 9 wins to Ireland's 2 in ODIs, making them clear favourites for this series, especially considering their comprehensive victories over Ireland across all three formats just a few weeks ago. However, they can expect a tougher challenge this time due to the conditions favouring the Irish team. If bowlers like Josh Little and Curtis Campher manage to extract significant assistance from the pitch, Ireland might even bring a surprising upset by defeating Bangladesh.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in 50-overs cricket in recent years, and on any given day, they have the capability to defeat even the strongest opponents. Our prediction is that Bangladesh will emerge victorious in the first IRE vs BAN ODI on May 09, 2023, securing a 1-0 lead in the series.