Bangladesh vs. UAE, Asia Cup: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates both made losing starts to their 2016 Asia Cup campaigns, which pretty much makes this a must-win clash.

Of course, the relatively experienced hosts will start as heavy favourites, but as evidenced by their plucky performance against Sri Lanka, the UAE seem capable of springing a surprise.

Let's take a look at how the two teams are shaping up ahead of this intriguing contest.

Date: Friday, 26 February

Time: 7.30 p.m. local (1.30 p.m GMT)

Venue: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh

Live Stream and TV Info: Fox Sports (Australia), DD National/Star Sports (India), GEO Super/PTV Sports (Pakistan), TNL TV (Sri Lanka), Star/Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Life OK (UK), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Yupptv.com (Live streaming service available in Europe).

Weather: It doesn't look good, according to BBC Weather, with dark clouds and rain set to feature in the evening. With this in mind, expect the captain who wins the toss to bowl first.

Overview

With just the top two sides going on to contest the Asia Cup final, making a positive start to the group stage is crucial if one of these teams are going to push for glory.

Or perhaps more accurately, avoid the wooden spoon.

Sadly, both Bangladesh and the UAE did just the opposite in falling to defeats against India and Sri Lanka respectively.

On a pitch that provided plenty of help to the bowlers, the Tigers allowed MS Dhoni's men to register a useful total of 166 in the competition's opening clash that, despite Sabbir Rahman's 32-ball 44, proved 45 runs too many.

The UAE would have been cock-a-hoop at restricting the current ICC T20 world champions Sri Lanka to just 129 from their allotted overs on Thursday. 

However, as he has done to many sides over the years, Lasith Malinga blew the Middle Easterners' top order away and the ICC Associates fell 14 runs short in a low-scoring tussle.

Facing bowlers of the calibre of Malinga, and Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara for that matter, is something the UAE will need to get used to quickly if they are to claim a scalp in this tournament.

And this battle could be the key area that decides this encounter.

Their top four batsmen, Mohammad Shahzad, Muhammad Usman, Rohan Mustafa and Muhammad Kaleem, scored the majority of runs in the qualifying stages that yielded three wins from three games.

But that group combined for only 14 runs from 23 balls against significantly better opposition. 

A.M. Ahad/Associated Press

Can they up their game and handle Bangladesh's upcoming 20-year-old pace duo of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman adeptly?

Similarly, the Tigers will need to bat with much more nous than they did against India where only Rahman managed to score more than 17 and their highest partnership was 35.

Of course, facing the UAE's part-time bowlers is a different kettle of fish than India's megastars, and the likes of Rahman, Soumya Sarkar and Shoaib Al Hasan will be looking to top up their averages.

And that's exactly what the normally enthusiastic home support will be expecting.

Taking place just 24 hours after the UAE's previous outing, this contest should prove a step too far for the minnows who will need to recover quickly from the defeat to Sri Lanka if they're to be competitive here.

T20I head-to-head record and last meeting

This is the first-ever official T20 International between the sides; however, Bangladesh eased to a four-wicket win when they met in a warm-up match for the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014.

Squads

Bangladesh

Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny, Abu Hider, Nurul Hasan

UAE

Amjad Javed (capt), Swapnil Patil, Ahmed Raza, Fahad Tariq, Farhan Ahmed, Mohammad Naveed, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Usman, Muhammad Kaleem, Qadeer Ahmed, Rohan Mustafa, Saqlain Haider, Shaiman Anwar, Usman Mushtaq, Zaheer Maqsood

Key Players

A.M. Ahad/Associated Press

Bangladesh

Shakib Al Hasan is clearly Bangladesh's top player and is capable of winning games with both bat and ball as evidenced by his hauls of 210 wickets and 2,813 runs from 174 T20 appearances. A veteran at the age of 28 years old, Al Hasan might not be the skipper anymore, but expect him to lead from the front here and throughout this tournament.

MARTY MELVILLE/Getty Images

UAE

As well as working full-time for Emirates Airlines, Amjad Javed captains his country and is their strongest player. The versatile all-rounder can do numerous jobs for the team, but it's his late-order hitting and nagging seamers that could be most valuable here as evidenced by his haul of 3/25 against Sri Lanka. 

Prediction

Given Heath Streak's men have home advantage and will be urged on by a fervent support, it is hard to see anything other than a Bangladesh win. That said, pressure can do funny things and the UAE weren't a million miles away from springing a shock against Sri Lanka. But expect Bangladesh to open their tournament account here.