The centre of the storm was located more than 1,200 km southwest of Dhaka, the site of the Nine-nation Wills International Cricket Cup tournament that opened Saturday last, the department said in a special weather bulletin.

The storm, packed with a windspeed of up to 50 km an hour, is moving toward the Bangladesh coast. It is too early to predict if the storm will actually hit Bangladesh or fizzle out.

Sponsors are keeping a close eye on the weather since the tournament began.The weather office has forecast a clear day for Dhaka tomorrow when India plays Australia in the third quarter-final of the competition.

Cricket's one-day champions sri lanka and south africa have already moved to the semi-finals, beating new zealand and england.

The match between pakistan and west indies is scheduled forthursday.

The two semifinals are scheduled for friday and saturday. The final will be played on coming sunday.

The ninth team, zimbabwe, was the first to be eliminated from the mini world cup tournament on the opening day.