Bangladesh and New Zealand meet in Match 9 of the ICC Cricket World Cup at The Oval on Wednesday and both sides come into the game in great shape.
Bangladesh:
Bangladesh caused the first major surprise of the tournament with a 21 run victory over South Africa at this ground on Sunday. That was the first action of the World Cup for Bangladesh who started as underdogs in the region of 28/10. They lost the toss and were asked to bat first and after a 60 run opening partnership they kept the momentum going all the way to post 330/6. The main contributions came from Soumya Sarkar (42), Shakib Al Hasan (75), Mushfiqur Rahim (78) and Mahmudullah (46 not out). Bangladesh hit just 3 maximums and on a good batting deck they were still second favourites at the innings break.
The Bangladesh bowlers kept their discipline and refused to let South Africa score as freely as they would have expected. Mustafizur Rahman (3/76) and Saifuddin (2/57 from 8 overs) plus the economy rates of Mehidy Hasan (1/44) and Shakib Al Hasan (1/50) who bowled 10 overs each helped the asking rate spiral beyond the Proteas.
This was how Bangladesh lined up in their opening game against South Africa
Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman
New Zealand:
New Zealand came up against Sri Lanka in Cardiff in their opening match which turned out to be a very one sided contest. The Black Caps dished out a 10 wicket hiding to the Sri Lankans who they invited to bat first and promptly bowled them out for just 136 in 29.2 overs. Matt Henry (3/29 in 7 overs) took the first 3 wickets whilst Lockie Ferguson (3/22 6.2 overs) also starred with the ball.
The chase was a formality and Guptill (73) and Munro (58) crashed it off in just 16.1 overs.
This was how New Zealand lined up in their opening match against Sri Lanka
Kane Williamson (capt), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tom Latham (wkt), Ross Taylor, James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Trent Boult
Head to Head
The teams have met 34 times with 24 wins for New Zealand and 10 for Bangladesh.
The most recent meetings between the sides came in New Zealand in February this year and it was a one sided series with New Zealand winning all 3 matches by margins of 8 wickets (twice) and then 88 runs.
In the 2017 Champions Trophy the teams met in a pool stage match in Cardiff and Bangladesh sprang a surprise with a 5 wicket victory.
The Betting, Click here for all markets
Bangladesh 5/2
New Zealand 3/10
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Verdict:
Bangladesh will be full of themselves after beating the Proteas but a well balanced New Zealand side should be a different conundrum.
The Black Caps to cover the pre-match handicap is the play here.
Suggested Bets:
Pre Match Handicap , New Zealand -5.5 Wkts / -35.5 Runs 8/10
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