ICC Champions Trophy 2017 | NZ vs BAN, Match Preview: New Zealand, Bangladesh to lock horns in must win contest

The bottom two teams of group B, New Zealand and Bangladesh in their last group match of Champions Trophy 2017 will lock horns in Cardiff on Friday. 

New Zealand surprisingly is at the bottom of the points table in Group B while Bangladesh is at number three. Both teams will fight each other and would like to win the match to keep their hopes of semis alive.

However winning the match only won’t assure them a place in semi-finals and the winner of this match would only be able to make into semifinals if England beat Australia but if Australia win they will reach the semifinals. 

New Zealand and Bangladesh are facing a similar problem of only one player scoring runs. For Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal is in form and for Kiwis its Williamson who is talking with the bat. But not having support from the other end is what dented them heavily in the Champions Trophy.

Their most recent meeting with the Blackcaps saw Bangladesh beat New Zealand by five wickets in a warm-up match in Dublin. The win against New Zealand in their last encounter will give Bangladesh a certain confidence boost.

ICC Champions Trophy 2017 | Team Preview: New task for Bangladesh; how to defeat big teams?

Teams:

Kiwis are bound to make at least one change after Neil broom’s twin failure and they need someone to back Williamson-Taylor axis.

At the other hand, Mashrafe Murtaza hinted he will play 5 specialist bowlers against New Zealand so it seems unlikely that they will make any changes and keep the same side which played against Australia in their previous match.

New Zealand Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, James Neesham, Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

Bangladesh Probable XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman

Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

When: Jun 09, 2017 at 3:30 PM

Weather report: The weather in Cardiff is no different and scattered showers are forecasted so it means threat of the notorious rain will hover overhead.