The win over South Africa has boosted the morale of the Bangladesh team. They will be in high spirits before taking on New Zealand today.
Like the Tigers, the Kiwis are also playing their second match. They have also won their first game convincingly, beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets. As expected, they will be running high on confidence, too.
Since it’s a day-night match, Bangladesh should opt to bat first if they win the toss. Bangladesh do not have much experience of playing day-night games in England. The ball swings more in the night, which makes it difficult for the batsmen. The New Zealand bowlers will be very dangerous in such a condition. So, the toss will be very vital.
Bangladesh are ahead on two counts in this game while New Zealand hold one advantage over us.
A look at the names of the Kiwi fast bowlers tells us how lethal they could be. Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson – all of them dangerous bowlers, as is Colin de Grandhomme, who will be very effective in this English condition. We have seen them giving us a tough time in the recent New Zealand tour. So, that is where Bangladesh lags behind.
Bangladesh are, however, ahead of their today’s opponents in batting and spin bowling.
Tamim, Soumya, Shakib, Mushfiq, Mithun, Mahmudullah and then Mosaddek and Miraz – such a long batting line-up. Our batting is so strong that we have to leave Sabbir and Liton out.
We need to bat first and post a big total. Shakib and Miraz bowled really well against the Proteas, so I am very hopeful about them against the Kiwis. But our running between the wickets is not the best. We have to work on that.
Coach Steve Rhodes has plans of his own and it worked in the Ireland tri-nation series. I had earlier said that Shakib should bat at number five. But he has used him at number three, and so far that plan has paid dividends.
I believe the batsmen should try to take as many singles as possible today. That will frustrate the Kiwi bowlers and they can then play square cut, hook or pull to bring in the runs.
We have a series win to cherish against New Zealand in the recent past. We also beat them in the 2017 Champions Trophy. I hope we will win against them once again today.