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.

Bangladesh Emerging Team won the fourth one-day by eight wickets against touring Ireland Wolves on Friday in Dhaka.

Ireland Wolves are trailing by 127 runs in their second innings after day two of the unofficial Test against the hosts at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.