Bangladesh begin their battle with New Zealand in the first of three ODIs on Boxing Day as Christchurch hosts the opening match of the series. Both sides will be eager to take a winning start to this match as it would mean they go one up with two to play ahead of the last two games in Nelson later in the week.
New Zealand
This match initially will be about getting some momentum going for New Zealand. They are about to embark on a pretty hectic little schedule as after the Bangladesh tour is completed Australia arrive for some ODIs before South Africa come over for a full tour so there is plenty of cricket to be played for the Kiwis.
The area where they really need to gain some form, belief and confidence is with the bat and it might be that this is the ideal chance to do that against a bowling attack who won’t be at home in these conditions. That said the runs still need to be scored and it will be interesting to see how New Zealand go here.
Bangladesh
On the flip side of that I am interested to see how this Bangladesh bowling attack will go on these pitches over the next few weeks not just this match. The one thing you can never accuse this young Bangladesh attack of is not giving their all and if they can get on top early they might just surprise their opponents here.
Bangladesh have a lot of batting depth these days which makes them very dangerous because they can play with a freedom right from the top of the order. More of their players are making bigger scores now too so it isn’t all about Tamim or Shakib any longer so this Bangladesh outfit certainly shouldn’t be written off.
Team News
Neil Broom has been recalled to New Zealand’s squad for this series and the fact he has given up a contract at Derbyshire to play suggests he will be straight into the side. Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson remain on the sidelines.
Bangladesh need to decide on the composition of their bowling attack. We know that Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman will play but the other seamers and indeed spinners are open for debate.
Hagley Oval
This will be the ninth time there has been an ODI played on this ground. It was used for the World Cup last year so New Zealand haven’t played every match here. They have only played here four times but they probably won’t need reminding they have won all four of those matches. This will be Bangladesh’s first outing here.
The wicket is generally good for batting on this ground although it is one of the bigger playing surfaces in the country. The new ball can do a bit first thing in the morning though so that will keep the bowlers interested.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in this opening match. I’m going to use it to assess both sides ahead of the cricket to come although I can’t keep this nagging feeling that Bangladesh are decent value out of my mind.
New Zealand often got off to decent starts in their recent series with Australia against a really strong new ball attack so I see no reason why that won’t continue here given the excellent batting track. With that in mind them to score more than 57.5 runs in the first 10 overs looks attractive to me. 300 is usually a par score here and New Zealand will want to get off to a quick start before the spinners come on. They can get to 58 and beyond before the powerplay ends.
Tips
Back New Zealand First 10 Overs – Over 57.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with Coral
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