Zimbabwe opt to bat; Litton out of tri-series with hip injury

Zimbabwe stand-in captain Sikandar Raza chose to bat first against Bangladesh in the first match of the tri-series in Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh, however, are without their captain Litton Das, who has been ruled out of the tri-series with right hip joint injury. Towhid Hridoy stood in as Bangladesh captain.

They are also without Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who has been down with fever for the last three days. Bangladesh therefore have a longish lower-order with Rishad Hossain promoted to No 8. Hasan Mahmud returns to the ODI side after 12 months. Mustafizur Rahman, meanwhile, has been retained despite two poor performances in the Asian Games last month.

Zimbabwe have also gone with three pace bowlers, while handing a debut to Tafadzwa Tsiga, who will keep wickets.

Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Saif Hassan, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Towhid Hridoy (capt), 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Brendan Taylor, 4 Craig Ervine, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Wessley Madhevere, 7 Tafadzwa Tsiga (wk) 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Newman Nyamhuri, 11 Blessing Muzarabani