Following Bangladesh’s surprising, but not shocking 21-run victory over South Africa, the Tigers now look to their next challenge on Wednesday night (10.30pm AEST) against an underrated New Zealand.
New Zealand showed no mercy to the weakest side in the World Cup, bowling out Sri Lanka for a paltry 136 and chasing the target in 16 overs.
The last time they met at the World Cup was at Hamilton in March 2015. After knocking out the Poms at Adelaide, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza was suspended for slow over rate and Shakib Al Hasan had led in his absence.
Sent in to bat on a turning pitch, Soumya Sarkar scored his maiden ODI fifty and Mahmudullah scored an impressive 128 as Bangladesh posted a competitive total of 288-7.
A Martin Guptill ton put New Zealand on track throughout the run chase but his wicket left the game in the balance for the last 15 overs before Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee saw the Blackcaps home in a nervy three wicket win.
World Cup head to head – New Zealand 4, Bangladesh 0.
The Tigers’ confidence will have shot up a lot following their win against South Africa, especially considering the Proteas were always having to fight back throughout the whole 100 overs. In a collective performance in posting 330, Mushfiqur Rahim and no.1 ODI all rounder Shakib Al Hasan received the plaudits for their half centuries and 142-run partnership for the third wicket.
But one must not forget Soumya Sarkar’s contribution. He provided Bangladesh with a fast start, allowing Shakib and Mushfiqur to settle in and not worry about the run rate when he was dismissed. He will be key to Bangladesh getting a good start again, but his knocks would be even more handy if he batted for longer periods of time.
How good can Bangladesh be? (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Once again, Bangladesh will be relying on Mustafizur Rahman to break partnerships in the middle overs and the death overs. He looked the Mustafiz of old, clocking high 130s to low 140s consistently and his unplayable off cutters.
Although he was a tad bit expensive, he provided Bangladesh with the breakthroughs they needed against the Saffas. Mohammad Saifuddin will also play a key role. Like Mustafizur, he was a bit off colour although he only just passed a fitness Test following back problems.
He will play a key role as Mashrafe Mortaza will be expecting breakthroughs whenever he hands him the ball on Wednesday.
New Zealand have three quality batsmen in their top 4. All of them are match winners in their own right and can cause serious damage. But personally, I’d like to see the back of Martin Guptill ASAP.
The damage he can do if he bats for more than 15 overs is scary. Attack the stumps as his technique exposes him to get out lbw to the new ball.
Kane Williamson is just a freakish player where you can only hope of minimising his impact as he rarely makes mistakes.
Ross Taylor is another dangerous player. But like many world-class players, he’s a nervous starter so the best chance of getting him back to the sheds early is to create dot ball pressure – something Bangladesh did really well against South Africa.
You can’t go past the two main swing kings Tim Southee and Trent Boult when talking about New Zealand’s key bowlers. Even though Southee didn’t play against Sri Lanka due to an injury, he’s set to play at the Oval.
Countering the swing kings will be a tough job if there’s a little bit of movement as India found out in their warm up game at the Oval. Doesn’t get much easier when Lockie Ferguson 145 km thunderbolts is first change.
Just like against South Africa, Bangladesh start as underdogs in this encounter. But they love playing as underdogs and will be looking to put up another good performance.
They have a 12th man in the Bengali diaspora in London who will be cheering every Bangladesh run, wicket, run saved, literally everything. Bring on the Blackcaps I say.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Yep Soumya Sarkar. Averaging high 30s at strike rate of over 100. Just needs to be a bit more consistent. Mortaza is an MP now and will likely retire after the WC. He needs to imrpove his bowling ASAP. Need Rubel Hossain (the man who bowled Anderson at Adelaide 2015) to come in with a bit more extra pace on a juicy Cardiff pitch
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
Is that Soumya Sarkar that is opening with Tamim, Arnab? Sorry, seen him before but struggle with some of their names. Very classy left-hander. If he gets away and Tamim gets to anchor, with the world's best all-rounder in Shakib waiting in the wings, totals like that against the Proteas will come. How much longer can Mortaza last? He's lost his pace and those knees must be giving him trouble...
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
If one of our openers can convert their starts, that would make our total a lot higher. England next and after this performance and willingness to fight till the last ball, I feel we can take on the Poms. But like I said openers need to convert their starts. Mushy will be looking to make up for that mistake and will be charged up - England will feel his wrath
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
A tight match mate. And had Rahim not been so eager that could have turned the game on its head. Shakib could have been MOTM; he's still got the goods. As it turned out Williamson didn't make that many; the Black Caps found other ways to get out at inopportune times. Imagine Stead and McMillan will be doing "pay straight" and "running between the wickets" drills as we speak! This Bangladesh team is really coming along Arnab...
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Well that was a brilliant fightback. I don't like blaming individuals but many Bangladesh fans will dwell on that mistake.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
No Shakib was big too Arnab; have been a fan ever since he emerged. As far as the new ball is concerned: we are playing the same team and I heard on Radiosport this morning it's a different pitch from the South Africa game, and it is emerald in colour. It's great to see Bangladesh taking scalps and believing Arnab; they are not to be taken lightly. Still backing the Black Caps however...
Bobbo7
Guest
Look for a clinical performance from NZ - they won't take this lightly and NZ is clearly a much better bowling, batting and fielding side an SA at the moment.
Neel
Roar Guru
It should be a good game. The Blackcaps will definitely not take the Bangladeshis lightly at all. Two interesting facts though. One is that whenever Mustafizur Rahman takes three of more three wickets in ODIs, Bangladesh don’t lose often. According to Athar Ali Khan they haven’t lost when Mustafizur Rahman has taken three or more wickets. Also, they finished well against South Africa as they got about 54 in the last 4 overs. Anyways, can’t wait for tomorrow Arnab. Two big games. We could be seeing a possible early exit for South Africa tomorrow or a fight back from the South Africans. On the other hand, Bangladesh could end up on a winning streak of 6 ODIs or New Zealand could win their 50th World Cup match in their World Cup history. I am looking forward to both games tomorrow.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
We didn't prepare well for that series at all. Our squad went from playing in the Bangladesh t20 league on terrible pitches to hard surfaces in a matter of days without any proper preparation. I still fondly remember watching that game in 2017 staying up till around 5am. Personally I don't think it will be a convincing win for the Blackcaps if they don't fire with the new ball. That being said even first change Lockie Ferguson can have an impact. The muted celebrations against the Saffas show we are really serious about this WC and looks like they are charged up for the encounter tomorrow night
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
The Bangladeshies have been in NZ recently albeit without Shakib and didn't fare that well. It would be prudent to note we have lost to them in England before and I really don't expect the Black Caps to take them for granted after such an outstanding performance against the Proteas. As a Black Caps fan I'm hoping for a convincing win...