Bangladesh commenced their World Cup 2023 mission with the first of the two official warm-up games against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Friday, getting a glimpse of what they are probably going to experience in terms of the pitches and conditions in the tournament proper in India.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz led the Tigers in the match today, with regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan having to sit out due to an ankle sprain he picked up during practise the day before.

Barring Mustafizur Rahman, all the other four Bangladesh seamers – Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, and Tanzim Hasan Sakib – featured in the game against Sri Lanka, who, unsurprisingly, opted to bat on a flat Guwahati pitch.

It is the Tigers' pace attack -- recognised as arguably the best ever the country has ever had -- that is expected to give Bangladesh the edge in the mega event, especially after a great improvement showed by Taskin and Co in recent times.

However, the two Lankan openers -- Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka -- sort of provided a glimpse of what might be awaiting the Tigers in the more than a-month-long tournament. Taskin's tight bowling saw the Lankans start a bit slowly but they gained pace soon, making the likes of Shoriful, Mahmud, and young Tanzim face the music in the early stage of the innings.

Taskin bowled brilliantly with the new ball, conceding 29 in his seven overs. But Shoriful, Tanzim, and Mahmud remained expensive and more importantly were unable to threaten the batters.

Mahmud remained wicketless, conceding 44 runs from his five overs. The right-arm quick, who has been amongst the leading wicket-takers for the Tigers this year, went for 19 runs in the 14th over in which he was smashed for three fours and a six.

Shoriful and Tanzim bowed five overs each, conceding 35 and 33 runs, respectively. They scalped a wicket each as well but were unable to make an impact as Sri Lanka, at one point, were flying at 103 for no wicket after just 14 overs.

Bangladesh, however, did manage to bounce back -- courtesy of off-spinner Mahedi Hasan's brilliant bowling display. Mahedi, along with Miraz, amped up the pressure on the Lankans with some tight bowling to eventually help the Tigers bundle out Sri Lanka for 263 runs in 491 overs.

Mahedi remained the pick of the bowlers for the Tigers, bagging three wickets and giving away 36 runs from his nine overs while stand-in skipper Miraz provided valuable support and remained economical, conceding 32 runs and a solitary wicket to show for in his his ten overs.

Bangladesh could take relief from the fact that Mustafizur, if on song, will add to the strength and experience in the Tigers' pace unit from the main group games in the World Cup, but the first warm-up game surely have made the seamers realise that things would be tough for them in the coming days as the sporting tracks in ICC events usually offer assistance to the batters.

With the lengthy schedule and constant traveling being the feature of this edition of the World Cup, it will be important for the Tigers' think tank to make sure the pacers get enough time to recover and at the same time adapt to the conditions and pitches.