Matches are coming thick and fast in the 2023 World Cup and Match 11 will see New Zealand rub shoulders with Bangladesh at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday. This will be the third assignment for both sides in the ongoing competition with two crucial points at stake.
New Zealand has sounded dominating in the coveted mega-event so far and has registered two triumphs from as many matches. They kicked off the competition with flying colours after steamrolling the defending champion, England in Ahmedabad. Moving on, they also eclipsed the Netherlands comprehensively in Hyderabad. Currently, the Black Caps are sitting at the top of the league table with four points in the bucket.
The fact that New Zealand have displayed utter dominance without a few of their first-choice players is something to boast about. Experienced personnel, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee are recuperating from respective injuries and are on the verge of getting their first match of the World Cup. The Black Caps were also without Lockie Ferguson in their first game against the Three Lions.
On the flip side, Bangladesh has blown hot and cold so far in the World Cup. They initiated the bonanza event with a seven-wicket convincing victory against Afghanistan in Dharamsala. Moving on, the Tigers were trounced by England in their latest clash, losing by 137 runs.
Bangladesh is a spin-dominating side and the conditions of Chennai may serve as a good hunting ground for the Shakib Al Hasan-led team. The pacers have failed to keep things tight in the last game against England and leaked runs, failing to exert pressure along with the spinners. Also, their batting unit failed to reckon as a force and the side will be looking to bounce back in this important fixture.
What has happened so far?
New Zealand arrived in India on the back of a bilateral series against England and Bangladesh. They lost the ODI series against the Three Lions 3-1 while a rather amateur side toured Bangladesh under captain Ferguson and sealed a 2-0 series triumph. They played warm-up matches against Pakistan and South Africa and emerged at the top with narrow victories.
As the finalists of the previous World Cup edition, New Zealand kicked started the prestigious tournament with a win against England. The bowlers restricted the Matthew Mott-coached side to 282 runs which was overhauled with ease on the back of dazzling centuries from Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. The Kiwis continued their dominance after ironing the Netherlands in their second game by 99 runs.
On the other hand, Bangladesh were a part of the Asia Cup where they failed to go past the Super Fours, getting thrashed by Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A dead-rubber win against India spirited them to earn a victory against Sri Lanka in the first warm-up game. However, they were struck down by the defending champions in their final chapter of the warm-up events.
Despite starting the tournament with a sweet seven-wicket victory against Afghanistan, the Bangladeshi side was blown off by England in the next game. A three-fer from Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz helped them to fold the Atalans for 156 in their first game.
Half-centuries from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Najmul Hossain Shanto helped them surmount the below-par target. However, in pursuit of chasing a 365-run target against England, they lost early wickets and failed to recover.
Head to Head Record
New Zealand and Bangladesh have locked horns against one another in ODIs on 41 occasions. No guess, the Kiwis hold the upper hand with 30 wins whereas the Tigers have earned 10 victories against their counterparts.
If filtered to just World Cup events, New Zealand has a 5-0 dominating record over the Asian nation.
Key Players
Rachin Ravindra struck his maiden ODI hundred on his World Cup debut.
Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand): The young gun with roots from Karnataka set the tournament ablaze with a scintillating ton that helped New Zealand thrash defending champions, England in the curtain raiser. He is a fabulous player of both spin and pace and has been batting up the order. This means, Ravindra gets more time to set and can orchestrate his innings with some cushion at the back end of the batting order.
It is also worth noting that Ravindra has an important role to play with the ball in hand. The conditions of Chennai are likely to suit his style of bowling as the finger spinners tend to get healthy assistance at this venue.
Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh): The skipper is the heart of this Bangladesh unit. Shakib Al Hasan, the all-rounder is as important to this team as the cardiovascular centre is to that of the human body.
Shakib has the knack of scoring at the need of the hour and he is also their lead spinner. The all-rounder bagged three wickets against Afghanistan in their first match and also fragmented the important partnership between Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow in their latest game against England.
Predicted XIs
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Kane Williamson ©, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan ©, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
Prediction
Although New Zealand is the favorite to win this game, Bangladesh will be a side that one cannot be written off. The Tigers will get similar conditions as that of home in Chennai and therefore hold a fair share of chance to get the edge.
But going by the form, New Zealand is unbeatable in the last six ODIs and will go into this fixture high on confidence. Henceforth, the Kiwis start as favourites in this encounter.