The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sports Reporter

Bangladesh National Cricket team led by Mohammad Ashraful will take on Zimbabwe National Cricket team led by Prosper Utseya today in the opening match of the Grameenphone Tri-Nation Cup at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The other team of the tournament is Sri Lanka, the new powerhouse of world cricket.

The match begins at 9.00 AM.

Bangladesh Television will telecast the match live from the stadium.

The stadium is prepared to stage the upcoming cricket tournament. The grasses of the pitch was cut. An expert said that, 'I expect the ball to skid on the bat here.'

Skipper of Bangladesh team Mohammad Ashraful said Zimbabwe have some good players in their squad and the team is a good one.

He said if the three departments (batting, bowling, fielding) of Bangladesh could perform well, they would bring positive result.

On the other hand, Prosper Utseya, the captain of Zimbabwe said that their team was playing positive cricket and he hopes that his team will do well against Bangladesh.

The tournament will be held on single-league basis. Top two teams will get tickets of the final. The final is scheduled to be held on January 16 at the same venue.