West Indies cricket team captain Brian Lara greets his fans in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. West Indies will play Bangladesh tomorrow in the ICC Champions Trophy. - Reuters

JAIPUR, India (CMC)

West Indies are aiming to confirm their place in the main draw of the ICC Champions Trophy when they tackle Bangladesh in the fourth qualifying match tomorrow morning at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

West Indies are the provisional leaders in the race for one of the two places in the main draw of the competition, following their emphatic nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in a low-scoring affair on Sunday.

Another victory would guarantee Brian Lara's side a spot alongside the six teams that are already confirmed in the first round.

Bangladesh are looking to rebound from a 27-run defeat in the opening qualifier against Sri Lanka, and they have indicated strongly that they are looking to spring an upset which has not gone unnoticed by Lara.

"I think that it is very important to encourage the teams that are not up there in the rankings," the West Indies captain remarked.

"They want to get out there and play against the best teams in the world, and this qualifying competition is another opportunity for them to spring a surprise on anybody.

"Bangladesh is a team that has beaten Pakistan and Australia, so you have to keep an eye on them."

West Indies have a few mild concerns hanging over a few of the players, with Dwayne Smith suffering from the flu, Runako Morton recovering from it, and Ramnaresh Sarwan also affected by a sinus infection which caused him to sit out the final practice session leading up to the match against Zimbabwe.

"Sarwan and Morton are both recovering well, while Smith is continuing to receive medication and treatment from the physio," Lara said.

Bangladesh have never beaten West Indies in a limited-overs international, but the Tigers have steadily improved in world cricket, and gave a hard time to Sri Lanka before conceding defeat in the competition opener.

The Bangladeshis, however, would recall their last series against West Indies in the Caribbean, when they were very competitive, and ran their opponents very close in the three matches.

They would want to forget the last time they met West Indies in the Champions Trophy two years though, since they were hammered by 138 runs at Southampton.

"I honestly believe that we have the ability to win a limited-overs international against any team on any given day," captain Habibul Bashar said.

Bashar did not play in the Southampton match, but Rajin Saleh, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammed Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, and Khaled Mashud all played.

West Indies have faced Bangladesh in 11 limited-overs internationals. They have won nine, and the other two have ended in no-results.