After a near two-hour interruption caused by rain, the first One-Day International (ODI) between Bangladesh and New Zealand will resume at 4:30pm as a 42-over contest.
New Zealand were 9-0 4.3 overs into their innings after being asked to bat first when rain stopped play at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday at 2:22pm.
Kiwi openers Finn Allen and Will Young were batting on five and three respectively and finding life difficult at the middle against Bangladesh’s pace duo of Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman.
Earlier, Bangladesh named a number of returns in their playing XI for the first match of the three-match series against the Black Caps.
Opener Tamim Iqbal returned after recovering from his back injury. Middle-order batter Mahmudullah is playing his first ODI since March earlier this year while wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan is playing his first ODI in about a year.
Soumya Sarkar, who hadn’t featured in an ODI since 2021, also returned to the XI.
Bangladesh made these changes on the back of their decision to rest players like regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz ahead of the ICC World Cup, beginning next month in India.
New Zealand also fielded a new-look side as they have included only five players from the World Cup squad in the squad for the Bangladesh series.