The Bangladesh national team is about to face the New Zealand national team for the third time in their three-match T20 cricket series.
Elsewhere in the sports world, the NBA playoffs dominate the conversation in North America. The New York Knicks knocked the Atlanta Hawks out of the playoffs with a decisive 140-89 victory. The Philadelphia 76ers won Game 6 of their series and now head into a Game 7 scenario against the Boston Celtics. On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will try to squash the Houston Rockets‘ hopes of advancing to the next round of the playoffs.
Here are match predictions, a pitch & weather report, in addition to the full squad list ahead of the third and final T20I match between Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Bangladesh vs New Zealand 3rd T20 Cricket Match Predictions
In their first match, Tawhid Hridoy was the offensive standout bat for Bangladesh. He recorded a 51-run knock off 27 deliveries. On the flip side, Dane Cleaver and Katene Clarke also recorded 51 runs, but off of 37 and 28 deliveries, respectively.
CricketWorld predicts that Bangladesh will win the toss and ultimately the match.
Google favors Bangladesh in this final match. The home team currently has a 60 percent chance of winning. Alternatively, that leaves New Zealand a 40 percent probability of winning.
Bangladesh Ready to Make History
According to ESPNcricinfo, Bangladesh has never won more than one series on a single tour against New Zealand. That can all change with the third and final match.
For starters, they have a great chance of winning the match. Secondly, if the third match is abandoned due to rain, they finish the series with an unbeaten 1-0 record. Either way, history will be made.
Of course, they cannot take the Black Caps for granted. New Zealand will be primed and ready to prove themselves and even up the series.
T20 Cricket Pitch Report: Bangladesh vs New Zealand
The final match of the series is taking place at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This is a change of pace from the Bir Shrestho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium in Chattogram, where the last match was abandoned.
According to CricTracker, this pitch often gives the team batting second an advantage.
“The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium has traditionally favoured teams batting second, although scoring is not easy during the early stages of an innings,” the outlet explains. “The surface tends to be on the slower side, meaning the ball does not come onto the bat quickly. This brings bowlers into play, particularly those who can maintain disciplined lines and lengths.”
With this in mind, it would be advantageous for the team that wins the toss to opt to bat second.
Weather Report: 3rd T20I For Bangladesh vs New Zealand
At the time of this writing, the conditions around the stadium are rainy. However, around the time of the match, things are expected to be much better.
According to AccuWeather, it will be 27 degrees Celcius with a 13 km/h wind. While no rain is expected, there is currently a 20 percent chance of precipitation.
Bangladesh vs New Zealand: 3rd T20 Cricket Match XI
Here are the potential XI’s for Bangladesh and New Zealand.
New Zealand Probable XI
- Tim Robison
- Katene Clarke
- Dane Cleaver (Wicketkeeper)
- Nick Kelly (Captain)
- Bevon Jacobs
- Dean Foxcroft
- Josh Clarkson
- Nathan Smith
- Ish Sodhi
- Matt Fisher
- Ben Lister
Bangladesh Probable XI
- Tanzid Hasan
- Saif Hassan
- Parvez Hossain Emon
- Litton Das (Captain, Wicketkeeper)
- Towhid Hridoy
- Shamim Hossain
- Mahedi Hasan
- Rishad Hossain
- Tanzim Hasan
- Shoriful Islam
- Ripon Mondol
Bangladesh vs New Zealand T20 3rd Match: Bangladesh Predicted to Make History