Ireland will take on Bangladesh in the first match of the three-match ODI series at County Ground in Chelmsford. All the matches of the series will be played at this stadium only so it will be interesting to see the nature of this track.
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Ireland will love the conditions out here. Batter Paul Stirling will again be the most important player of the side and pacer Joshua Little has joined the squad after representing Gujarat Titans in Indian Premier League. Harry Tector has also been great with the bat in recent times for the Irish team.
Bangladesh will be led by Tamim Iqbal in this series and they have some experienced players in their ranks. All-rounder Shakib al Hasan and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim are going to be crucial for the Bangla Tigers. The pace lineup will be led by Mustafizur Rahman.
County Ground Chelmsford Pitch Report for Ireland vs Bangladesh ODIs
Chelmsford will be hosting an ODI match after a spell of 24 long years, so it will not be fair to keep those records in mind. This is the home ground of Essex County and they played a total of four Royal One Day Cup games last season. It can certainly be said that this pitch has been great for batting.
The average first innings score in those four matches was 305 runs. Interestingly, all the matches were won by the teams batting first. The pitch is a flat one with an even amount of bounce. However, in the second innings, the pitch was difficult for batting and spinners played a very big part.
The boundaries are very small on this ground and hitting sixes won’t be tough here. With a very fast outfield, the fielders will have a tough time out there. Both teams may opt to bat first keeping the recent record in mind. The new ball bowlers will be important in this match.
