Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh 1st One-day at Bulawayo

Bulawayo: Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya acknowledged that his team is under pressure from home fans going into the five One-day matches against Bangladesh.

"It's obviously important for us to win and move up the ranks," Utseya said. "It's an important series for us, which we need to win to give the Zimbabwean people something to smile about."

For the millions of Bangladesh supporters around the world, this game will hopefully be watched with reinvigorated zest because their team beat West Indies in the Tests and ODIs recently. For fans in Zimbabwe, this is a rare home series to take in.

Zimbabwe won their last low-profile series against Kenya 5-0 but their best player, Tatenda Taibu, is not available after being handed a ten-match suspension. Their opponents this time are undoubtedly favourites after their exploits in the Caribbean and their recent record over Zimbabwe - they beat them 2-1 earlier this year

Forster Mutizwa faces a challenge for the wicketkeeper's role with the recalled wicketkeeper-batsman Charles Coventry, but his crucial unbeaten 78 in the warm-up win may pip him to the role. Mutizwa impressed in the ODIs against Kenya in January, changing the third game in a one-over assault on Peter Ongondo, including two sixes, over deep midwicket, and three boundaries to reduce a target of over eight-an-over down to a run-a-ball, and smashing 61 off 45 balls in the next game. A clean hitter of the ball, Mutizwa's biggest challenge is Bangladesh's troika of crafty spinners.

Enamul Haque jnr is a name a few Zimbabweans may be wary of. The left-arm spinner took 6 for 45 - and the historic final wicket - to send Bangladesh fans wild with an inaugural Test victory over Zimbabwe in January 2005, then added 7 for 95 (and 12 in the match) in the drawn second Test.

Team news
Zimbabwe: Picking Zimbabwe's final XI is a difficult task. The two new faces in the squad are the Mashonaland right-arm seamers Trevor Garwe and Admire Manyumwa. It is foreseeable that the players with the most recent international experience get picked first.

Squad (probable): Hamilton Masakdaza, Keith Dabengwa, Vusi Sibanda, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Sean Williams, Elton Chigumbura, Prosper Utseya (c), Forster Mutizwa (wk), Graeme Cremer, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford.

Bangladesh are likely to retain a winning combination, the only exception being the absence of Abdur Razzak who strained his hamstring while batting in the third ODI against West Indies.

Squad (probable): Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (vc & wk), Mahmudullah, Naeem Islam, Enamul Haque jnr, Syed Rasel, Rubel Hossain.

Pitch and conditions
The weather in Bulawayo at the moment is nice and sunny with no showers on the horizon. "The wicket looks okay," said Shakib. "It has a slight shade of grass but it is compact."

Stats & trivia

• The two teams have only played one full match in Bulawayo, in April 2001, with the other two fixtures being abandoned.
• Tamim Iqbal has been Bangladesh's highest run-getter since January 2008 with 974 at 27.83, but has struggled in nine innings this year.
• Hamilton Masakadza has been Zimbabwe's most successful player in 2009 with 308 runs at 34.22.

Match facts
Sunday August 9, 2009
Start time 09.30 (07.30 GMT)

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