London: Hosts England will take on minnows Bangladesh in the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 at Kennington Oval today.
England, who have a pretty settled squad at their disposal, will also have the home advantage with them. The likes of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Jason Roy and others will be high on confidence after a good show in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2017. While the conditions will be different compared to India,
On the other hand, Bangladesh will have to play out of their skin to put a good show against Eoin Morgan's men. Mashrafe Mortaza would want his boys to show some teeth in the tournament opener after suffering a 240-run loss against India in their second warm-up match.
Despite the humiliation, Mehedi Hasan, who top-scored for the Tigers with 24, said they still believed they could beat England
"Yes. We have done well in our last few matches against England and we are confident," he said.
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha tried to minimise the impact of Tuesday's reverse by saying: "Obviously it affects the confidence a little bit, but this is a practice game.
"It's a big game for us, the first game of the Champions Trophy.
The Champions Trophy opener is set to feature several survivors on both sides from Bangladesh's 2015 World Cup win over England, when a hundred from Mahmudullah and aggressive seam bowling propelled the Tigers to a memorable success at the Adelaide Oval.
England have become a much improved side in the limited-overs format over the years and it remains to be seen whether they can start the tournament on a positive note.
