Zimbabwe open a three-nation ODI series against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, with Afghanistan, the designated hosts, completing the field.

The series is billed as preparation for the 2027 World Cup, which Zimbabwe will co-host with South Africa and Namibia, so every match carries extra weight.

The format

Each team plays the others once, and the top two meet in the final on October 23. With only two league games each, there is little room for a slow start.

• 17 Oct: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe (Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi)
• 19 Oct: Afghanistan v Zimbabwe (Zayed Stadium)
• 21 Oct: Afghanistan v Bangladesh (Sharjah)
• 23 Oct: Final (Sharjah)

Zimbabwe

Sikandar Raza leads a 15-man squad in the absence of Richard Ngarava due to injury. The team blends experience (Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor) with younger talent such as Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani. Recent form is mixed. In July they took the home series against Bangladesh 2-1, with Ben Curran’s unbeaten century in the second ODI setting up the series win. In September, Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead and went on to win 3-0, although the final match was decided by a single wicket with one ball to go. The bowling will lean on Blessing Muzarabani and Brad Evans, while Newman Nyamhuri took five wickets in the first Australia game.

Bangladesh

Litton Das captains the side, with Tawhid Hridoy as his deputy. The squad has plenty of experience in Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed. They arrive fresh from a Test draw in Abu Dhabi, in which Litton scored a century. In Harare, their batting struggled to turn promising starts into big partnerships, and that is the weakness to fix. They did win the final ODI there, with Tanzid Hasan falling for 94.

Afghanistan

The hosts play on neutral ground, as their home matches are staged in the UAE. Rahmat Shah leads a side that beat Ireland 4-0 in August, and the squad includes Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi, all among the best all-rounders in the world. In the Test draw, Sediqullah Atal’s 111 helped save the match, which showed the side can fight when under pressure.

Conditions and key questions

Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have traditionally rewarded spin and patient batting. Afghanistan and Bangladesh have deep spin options, so Zimbabwe’s batters, and the spin of Raza and Wellington Masakadza, will be tested early. Winning the toss and choosing well could matter.

Players to watch

• Zimbabwe: Ben Curran and Sikandar Raza (batting and leadership).
• Bangladesh: Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan (top-order tempo).
• Afghanistan: Rashid Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai (the all-round match-winners).

Verdict

Afghanistan’s spin depth and familiarity with the venues make them narrow favourites, but this looks wide open. Zimbabwe have beaten Bangladesh this year, and a good opening game on Saturday would put them in a strong position for the final. A loss would leave them with only the Afghanistan game to recover.

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