Bangladesh, a team on the up, has played fearless cricket in recent times and will hope to keep New Zealand’s batsmen in check when they meet in Cardiff next June.
Match: New Zealand v Bangladesh
Group: Group A
Date: Friday, June 9
Venue: The SSE SWALEC, Cardiff
Head2Head in ODIs:
New Zealand has played against Bangladesh 25 times in ODI history. Out of those, it has won 17 times, giving Bangladesh eight wins.
Greatest ODI encounter:
At the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Bangladesh showed just how far it had come as a team.
Against New Zealand, put in to bat at Seddon Park, Bangladesh put up a strong total of 288 despite an early shake up. Mahmudullah played some wonderful shots in his unbeaten 128, while Soumya Sarkar offered good support with a half-century. New Zealand’s bowlers had been on an incredible run in the competition, but the Asian side didn’t seem intimidated.
After losing a couple of early wickets, Martin Guptill, the opener, and Ross Taylor put on a strong partnership. Guptill got to his century and was looking to close out the match. But, Bangladesh fought back, thanks to Shakib Al Hasan (4-55). Useful knocks by the lower order ensured a three-wicket win for New Zealand, but the fight only showed the character of its opponent.
Previous Champions Trophy encounter:
Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, September 23, 2002
New Zealand won by 167 runs
PoM: Shane Bond
New Zealand scored 244 for 9 in its 50 overs as Mathew Sinclair (70) put together a composed innings despite wickets falling at regular intervals. Bangladesh found itself struggling against the pace of Shane Bond (4-21) and was bowled out for 77 in 19.3 overs.
Previous World Cup encounters:
Seddon Park, Hamilton, March 13, 2015
New Zealand won by three wickets
PoM: Martin Guptill
Thanks to Mahmudullah’s 128*, Bangladesh posted a total of 288 runs, but failed to restrict New Zealand. Martin Guptill (105) set up the chase despite Shakib Al Hasan’s 4 for 55.
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, April 2, 2007
New Zealand won by nine wickets
PoM: Shane Bond
Jacob Oram (3-30) and Scott Styris (4-43) combined with Shane Bond’s economical 2-15 to restrict Bangladesh to 174 runs. Stephen Fleming (102*) and Hamish Marshall (50*) then had no problems, as they chased the total down within 30 overs.
De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley, 26 February, 2003
New Zealand won by seven wickets
PoM: Craig McMillan
Thanks to Shane Bond (3-33) and Jacob Oram (3-32), Bangladesh was kept to 198 for 7 in the first innings. The New Zealand openers took control of the match and with useful contributions from the middle order, the total was chased down in 33.3 overs.
County Ground, Chelmsford, 17 May, 1999
New Zealand won by six wickets with 17 overs remaining
PoM: Gavin Larsen
The New Zealand bowlers dismissed Bangladesh for 116 in 37.4 overs, with all of Gavin Larsen (3-19), Chris Cairns (3-19) and Geoff Allott (3-30) picking up three wickets. The batsmen then had little problem chasing down the total.
Key players for each side:
Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, has been regarded as one of the best in the world during the past few years. His impeccable temperament and classical strokeplay has helped him score many a run against even the best in the world. Bangladesh has to make sure to get him out early, before he does any serious damage.
With their newly strengthened bowling line-up, Bangladesh will look to put more runs on the board. The key to that in recent times has been scoring runs off the last few overs. In terms of that, none has done a better job for Bangladesh than Mahmudullah. His resurgence as a finisher in the past year or so has helped Bangladesh post stronger totals and chase higher scores.
Key facts:
Bangladesh’s lowest score against New Zealand is 77, which occurred the last time they met at a Champions Trophy game.
Ross Taylor averages 49.07 against Bangladesh with two centuries and four half-centuries against them.
Shakib-Al-Hasan has picked up 28 wickets against New Zealand at an average of 21.03 and an economy of 4.84.
Best at Champions Trophy:
New Zealand Winners, 2000
Bangladesh Group stages
New Zealand will play Bangladesh in Group A of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 on Friday, June 9 in Cardiff. Tickets go back on sale on 27 October, 2pm via www.icc-cricket.com/tickets.