In-form Bangladesh seek dominance on home turf; 'slightly younger' NZ look to leave a mark

Bangladesh have emerged to be a lethal force in the recent past. They defeated West Indies and Sri Lanka in ODIs at home, dominated Zimbabwe across formats in away fixtures and then thumped Australian 4-1 in T20Is on the home soil. 

Coach Russell Domingo acknowledged the team’s efforts and said that every series win is big. "Any series win is big," Domingo said.

The side will now take on the Blackcaps in a five-match T20I series beginning on September 1, 2021, in Dhaka. The Bangladesh squad comprises some experienced customers who have the ability to win the matches single-handedly on a given day. 

From Mahmudullah to Shakib Al Hasan and from Mushfiqur Rahim to Mustafizur Rahman, the Asian side comprises players who have a vast amount of experience especially when it comes to the T20 format. 

While Rahim would be making a comeback to the T20I squad after he last played for Bangladesh in a Test against Zimbabwe in Harare, Shakib has been in some fine form with the ball. He scalped a total of 7 wickets in five matches against Australia in the bilateral tie and also produced some handy scores with the bat. 

Mahmudullah would be looking to get among runs especially keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind. He has managed to score only a half-century against Australia while was dismissed for a duck twice in five games. 

Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman also keeps an important position in this squad and a lot would depend on his cutters. He was pretty impressive during the Australian series especially with those slower and back of the hand deliveries. The fast bowler has been using these deliveries with some precision for quite some time now and IPL in May was an evident example of it during his stint with Rajasthan Royals. 

On the other side, New Zealand would be led by Tom Latham as regular skipper Kane Williamson has been rested for the tour. The Kiwis thumped Bangladesh to etch a 3-0 clean sweep at home in T20Is earlier this year. Though the team that has come on this tour of Bangladesh is a bit different, the side still has some names in the unit who have stamped their authority at the highest level. 

The spinners had a major impact during the Bangladesh and Australia series, thus Blackcaps' Ajaz Patel might prove to be the trump card for the visitors. He can keep the scoring rate under control and not let the batsmen run away with the game. 

Moreover, he has the ability to invite the batsmen to go for an aggressive stroke with his tossed up deliveries. New Zealand would be expecting Ajaz to be among wickets in this series. 

Match Details

Match – Bangladesh vs New Zealand – 1st T20I

Venue – Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka

Time – 03:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local

Where to watch live – Fancode

Pitch Report

The track in Dhaka might have something on offer for the bowlers, especially spinners in the initial phase of the game. So, if you win the toss, elect to field first. 

Team News

Bangladesh

Wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is back in the side. But the team management is going to try a split-keeping method. 

"Sohan (Nurul) will keep wickets in the first two games," Domingo said ahead of the series. "The plan is to split wicket-keeping duties in this particular series, make it two games each and make a decision in the fifth game,” he said. 

Apart from this, all-rounder Shakib is in some good form and the team would be looking towards him to replicate what he did against the Aussie side. 

New Zealand

New Zealand suffered a huge blow ahead of the series after wicket-keeper batsman Finn Allen had tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in Dhaka. He was subsequently replaced by Matt Henry. 

Apart from this, the visitors are without some of their key members. In fact, Latham had earlier said that it's an opportunity for him to grow as a leader with a slightly "younger side". 

"From a leadership point of view, you are always looking to grow and improve. This format presents another opportunity. I have had captaincy experience in the past. This is a slightly younger group," he said. 

Probable XI

Bangladesh: Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (w), Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Shamim Hossain Patwary, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam

New Zealand: Cole McConchie, Tom Latham (c and wk), Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Colin de Grandhomme, Rachin Ravindra, Scott Kuggelejin, Ajaz Patel, Doug Bracewell, Matt Henry

Fantasy XI

M Rahim, T Latham, Mahmudullah, L Das, H Nicholls, S A Hasan (C), S Kuggeleijn, Cole McConchie, H Bennett, A Patel, M Rahman (VC)