The match will start at 10:00am at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground. A victory for the Tigers will not only be their first after 16 straight defeats in the history of the competition but also erase that painful WC defeat against the Canadians in their last major competition.

Bangladesh Television and ESPN will telecast the tournament opener live from Colombo.

India will also feature on the opening day in a day-night match against the United Arab Emirates at Dambulla.

"We have put the Canada nightmare behind us. We are not worried about any team but we will not be careless as well. The way we've been playing recently would be good enough to beat Hong Kong," said Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar yesterday.

"We know that a win tomorrow will not only be the first for us in five Asia Cups, but it will also take us into the second round," Bashar told reporters after practice.

"Batting in the morning is always difficult at the SSC. We will play safe but if conditions suit us, we will definitely bat first. I think a 230-240 total will be good enough to defend against any team here," said the top batsman of the country.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razak is likely to make his one-day debut against Hong Kong, who have never won a single match against Bangladesh.

Hong Kong captain Rahul Sharma however sounded optimistic ahead of their big match.

"In cricket, anything can happen. As Robin (Singh) once said, if seven players out of 11 perform, then you have a winning formula," quoted Sharma.

"We are expected to lose against Bangladesh and Pakistan but they have to win the games from us. So, the pressure will be on them," said the veteran, who played nearly ten games against Bangladesh at ICC associate level.

Sharma, who played first-class cricket in India, is excited to make one-day debut at the age of 43.