The day-night match of the knockout tournament will commence at 2 in the afternoon.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will release eleven balloons as part of the fanfare and as many pigeons of peace at a ten-minute opening ceremony of the mega event before being introduced to the players of New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
The number symbolises the nine participating teams, hosts Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
All the nine Test-playing nations are taking part in the one-chance challenge, dubbed by many as the 'mini World Cup'. Test babes Zimbabwe led by Alistair Campbell and New Zealand skippered by Stephen Fleming will meet in the lone pre-quarter-final of the tourney on the day. The winners will face world champions Sri Lanka in the quarters.
The other three quarter-finals will be played between England and South Africa, Australia and India, and Pakistan and West Indies.
England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe are already in the city. India, West Indies and four one-day specialists of the Australian team will arrive tomorrow. Pakistan and the remaining ten Aussies will reach the capital straight from Karachi on October 27. The Australians are now on a tour to Pakistan.
This is the first tournament of its kind and the Bangabandhu Stadium will go down in history as being the first venue to host all the Test-playing teams in a single competition.
All the eight 50 overs-a-side matches will be held under lights and start at 2 pm. A full match is expected to finish by 9.45 pm. The final of the fund-raising meet is scheduled for November 1.
Teams will vie for the gold and silver glittering Cup, designed by an Indian jeweller, which was unveiled in the city yesterday.
The tournament is being held under the aegis of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game's ruling body.
The government has reportedly incurred an expenditure of about Taka 16 crore to upgrade the Bangabandhu Stadium, whose new floodlights and latest electronic scoreboard have already been dubbed as one of the best in the world by some of the visiting players and experts.
The ICC president Jagmohan Dalmiya, former ICC president and ICC cricket committee chairman Sir Clyde Walcott and ICC chief executive David Richards arrived in the city yesterday.
The tournament is a sell-out and tickets have been hard to get. Fans, men and women, young and old, queued at the thirteen IFIC branches for hours in a bid to get the elusive tickets after they were put on sale on October 20. The BCB released thirty thousand gallery tickets for each match and seven thousand of various other grades. Thousands waited in vain from dawn to late afternoon.
Meanwhile, a scandal is surfacing regarding the forty hospitality boxes, costing two to two-and-half lakh taka each, which, some patrons allege, the BCB sold unfairly.
ICC earlier declared West Indian Steve Bucknor and England's Peter Willey as the umpires for today's match. England's David Shepherd will be the third (TV) umpire. Raman Subba Row, also of England, will be the match referee.
There is tremendous interest centering the tournament throughout the country and in other countries where cricket is a popular game.
Bangladesh Television and the Bangladesh Betar will cover all the matches Live. Doordarshan of India and The Sky Television of England will air the matches Live to millions of viewers all over the world.
Concerned officials will be on their toes and in some anxiety to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the mega event.
Some roundabouts and road dividers in the city have been adorned in festive colours and banners for the occasion. The BCB is also publishing a befitting souvenir.
Volunteers of Rover Scouts and BNCC will be on duty alongside Bangladesh Army, the Armed Police Battalion and other government and private law-enforcing agencies.
The stadium gates will open for ticket-holders at 12 noon.