After a dull start, three back to back nail baiting finishes have certainly made the World Cup alive. On Wednesday, New Zealand will take on Bangladesh, both have won their first encounter.
Bangladesh who surprised the mighty South Africans must be eyeing for another win. Their batting, bowling both clicked equally well in the first match. But still, some improvement is required in the field. Shakib is in great touch so as their openers. If middle order performs as they did in the previous game, a considerable total is expected from Bangladesh.
New Zealand, on the other hand, were not tested thoroughly in their first game. The bowlers did a fantastic job by dismissing the Lankans under 200. They won the match without losing any wicket, so all their batsmen have not got the chance to bat in a real game.
But New Zealand must be happy, Munro was out of form before the World Cup and him cracking a half-century (in the opening game against Sri Lanka) is undoubtedly a pleasant sight for the Kiwis.
Players to watch out
Shakib Al Hasan will be ready to roar again, his all-round performance against South Africa bagged him the Man of the Match award. He will be playing his 200th ODI so he would also like to perform on this special occasion.
Trent Boult bowled well in both warm-up games and then also against Sri Lanka. He swings the ball both ways which have put the batsmen in trouble. The Oval is known for batting paradise, and already two matches produced scores over 300, so Kiwis must be hoping an early breakthrough from Boult to restrict Bangladesh below 250.
New Zealand v Sri Lanka in ODIs
Overall: Matches 34, New Zealand Won 24, Bangladesh Won 10
World Cup: Matches 4, New Zealand Won 4, Bangladesh Won 0
Recent Form (most recent first): New Zealand W W W W L, Bangladesh W W W W NR
ICC Rankings: New Zealand (4), Bangladesh (7)
Upcoming Records
Trent Boult has taken 148 wickets and needs two more to reach the 150 wickets milestone. He will be the 8th Kiwi bowler to achieve this feat.
Shakib Al Hasan will be playing his 200th ODI, and he will become only the 3rd player to play 200 or more ODIs for Bangladesh.
Squads
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
