The match timings of the upcoming Bangladesh–New Zealand men’s white-ball series and the women’s T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been changed by the BCB to support the government’s energy saving initiative.
All three ODIs in Dhaka and Chattogram were supposed to be day-night affairs, but now the board has said they will bring the start time forward by three hours. The ODIs will now start at 11am local, with the aim to finish the matches by sunset which is around 6.30pm during this time of year. The BCB expects to save at least four hours in electricity consumption.
The men’s T20Is will start from 2pm, with the aim to finish them by 5.10pm. The first two T20Is in the three-match series were initially scheduled for 6pm starts, while the third T20I was already scheduled to start at 2pm.
The women’s T20Is, to be held in Sylhet on April 28 and 30, and May 2, will now be held from 1.30pm, instead of the originally planned 6pm starts.
“The board has decided to readjust the match timings of the forthcoming Bangladesh vs New Zealand ODI and T20I series to support the energy saving initiative of the Bangladesh Government. The revised timing, which will be announced in due course, will aim to make maximum use of daylight in the day-night games,” the BCB said in a statement on Wednesday.
New Zealand will play the first two ODIs in Dhaka on April 17 and 20, and the third ODI in Chattogram on April 23. The first two T20Is will be played in Chattogram on April 27 and 29 and the final T20I will be in Dhaka on May 2.
Both the New Zealand men’s and Sri Lanka women’s teams are scheduled to arrive in Bangladesh next week, amidst some austerity measures, owing to the fuel crisis worldwide, already in place in the country.
