The Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium is on the verge of history as the ground will host its 100th ODI when visiting sides Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe face each other in the tri-nation series in Dhaka Wednesday.
The MSBNCS will become the sixth venue to achieve such a feat after Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the UAE (231 matches), Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia (154), Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia (148), Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe (136), and R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo (124).
The Mirpur venue has been a historic ground for the Tigers in the last few years as Bangladesh beat higher ranked opponents here. Some memorable achievements here include the 4-0 series sweep of New Zealand in 2010, reaching the final of the 2012 Asia Cup, winning series’ against Asian powerhouses like India and Pakistan and a 2-1 series win against South Africa in 2015. Bangladesh also won historic Test matches here against opponents like England and Australia in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
The Mirpur venue also hosted major ICC events like the 2011 World Cup as co-host and the 2014 World T20I.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews expressed gratitude before playing in Mirpur’s 100th ODI. Mathews also recalled happy memories the Sri Lankans have at this venue as they lifted the 2014 World T20I title after defeating India here in 2014.
“This has been a happy hunting ground for us, especially in 2014 when we had a great outing in Dhaka. But that’s history now. We have to start fresh. We have a different team as well. We have had so many fond memories and we are looking forward to some more,” Mathews said during the pre-match press conference in Mirpur Tuesday.
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