|| Desk Report ||

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza won the toss and opted to bowl first in the tri-series final against West Indies at the Malahide in Dublin on Friday.

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the final with a back spasm which he sustained during the last group fixture against Ireland on Wednesday.

Shakib thereby missed three straight ODI finals for Bangladesh, having been sidelined due to finger injury in tri-series final against Sri Lanka in January 2018 and Asia Cup final against India in September 2018.

Bangladesh however brought back their best XI barring Shakib in the final with Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mohammad Mithun returning to the fold.

Liton Das, Abu Jayed Rahi and Rubel Hossain, who played Bangladesh’s last match against Ireland, made the way for them along with Shakib Al Hasan. Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, who also played against Ireland, kept him place as a replacement of Shakib.

Bangladesh this time are determined to break the final hoodoo to win a trophy that eluded them on last six occasions.  

They are clear favourites in the final, having crushed West Indies twice with quite ease in the group phase.

West Indies however fielded the unchanged squad that played the last match against Bangladesh to concede a five-wicket defeat. West Indies also lost to Bangladesh by eight wickets in first group fixture. But they beat hosts Ireland twice to make the final.

Bangladesh beat Ireland once before their first group match against Ireland in double-league tournament was washed out without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain.