Whenever Christmas comes along the international schedule in the cricket world seems to go mental and that is very much the case this year. While most sides are playing Test cricket, New Zealand and Bangladesh are bucking the trend as they begin an ODI series on Boxing Day, which actually begins on Christmas night in the UK.
New Zealand are a very efficient one day side but Bangladesh have shown plenty of improvement in the last 12-18 months so this should be quite a competitive little series.
Schedule
1st ODI: Dec 26 at Christchurch
2nd ODI: Dec 29 at Nelson
3rd ODI: Dec 31 at Nelson
New Zealand
The Kiwis go into this match off the back of a couple of recent series losses. They lost to India in India a few months ago and then earlier this month they suffered a 3-0 loss in Australia so they might be short of a little confidence heading into this series which would make them vulnerable.
New Zealand have bowled well enough in both those recent series but their batting has left plenty to be desired. Ross Taylor is still missing for this series after his eye operation. BJ Watling and Henry Nicholls have been left out so the Kiwis have clearly recognised where they have been struggling.
Bangladesh
This will be the first time we’ve seen Bangladesh against a top level nation since they hosted England earlier in the year. They were extremely competitive in that series although that was in conditions they were familiar in. These are slightly more alien to them but they will know they made the quarter final of the World Cup in them last year.
Bangladesh look well stocked in the batting department for this series so the acid test for them will be whether they can deliver the goods with the ball. I think it is fair to say that since they came into the ODI scene their seam bowlers have been their weakness but that is an area they have improved the most.
Head to Head
These two nations have played six series in the past. New Zealand won the first four and Bangladesh the last two although they were both in Bangladesh so we can’t read too much into that. In terms of matches New Zealand lead 17-8 but in New Zealand they have an 11-1 winning match record.
Betting
I’ve a suspicion Bangladesh might be able to nick this series but I’d need to see their bowling attack in action before I can commit to it so my only bet heading into the three matches comes in the player markets.
The top Bangladesh batsman market is the one I am targeting. Tamim Iqbal is the favourite in this market but he’ll be facing Trent Boult and co right from the start and I’m not sure I want to be on a favourite in that position.
There are a few decent players in this Bangladesh line up. Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib-al-Hasan are all great talents but I’m a fan of Mahmudullah in these conditions. He played two matches in New Zealand in the World Cup last year and made 62 and 128*, the latter being against New Zealand themselves. He has already made 40 odd in the warm up match so looks to be batting well and I think he’s the one to be on this week.
Tips
Back Mahmadullah Top Bangladesh Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Bet365
Back him here:
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