Muslims in Bangladesh like many living in other parts of the are celebrating Eid Ul Fitr today after months long fasting . Some already celebrated . Including them if any Bangladeshis living anywhere is asked about gifts today nothing but a win of tweeting tigers against New Zealand would be more precious . But to get it team tigers need producing A game against very strong and well equipped Kiwi squad of fast furious bowling attack and top quality batting.

Bangladesh needs at least one win from the next two matches if not two against strong New Zealand and tournament favorite England. Bangladesh has not yet beaten New Zealand in World Cup but won against England in 2011 in Chittagong and 2015 in Adelaide. Bangladesh off course won ODI matches against New Zealand in Bilateral series and even white washed them. Bangladesh also beat New Zealand in the last Champions Trophy played in England It is very much possible winning both the matches but these may not be that easy.  England is the ICC top ranked team in ODI. New Zealand in recent times played wonderfully aggressive cricket.

Before going to greater details let us look at the thesquads. 

New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Tom Blundell (wk), Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi, Henry Nicholls, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham

Bangladesh  Squad: Mashrafee Bin Murtaza, Shakib Al Hasan , Tamim Iqubal , SoumyaSarkar , Liton K Das , Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad , Mosaddeq Hossain , Sabbir Rahman , MehedyHasan Miraj, Mohammad Saifuddin , RubelHossain ,Mustafizur Rahman and Abu Jayed

Winning Formula:
Tigers meets Kiwis at Kensington Oval where they beat Protean on the other day playing brilliant all round cricket . If sun shines again hope talented Bangladeshi batsmen can make hay while the sun shines against Boult ,Southee , Fergusson and Henry . With talented Soumya in his elements , Shakib , Mushfique , Mahmudullah and Mosaddequeon tune we find no cause of concerns of top order getting easily dismantled and batting crumbling .Bangladesh bats deep with 10 players known for batting potential . New Zealand attack from quality pacers looks ordinary . They are not unknown quality for Bangladesh. If Bangladesh win the toss in the day night match without any hesitation they should bat first unless there is cloud cover favouring swing . A score of 300 plus is within the reach of Bangladesh .But for that they need a good start of not losing wickets in the first power play. A good innings is expected from Tamim . Would suggest playing Liton in the match and slotting him at number three pushing Shakib at five . Liton can replace Mithun in the eleven. I know it is tough call to change a winning squad . Liton is in good form. Playing him at number three would risk Bangladesh losing early wickets and creating left and right combinations perplexing Kiwis attack. Shakib can bat lesser bowlers in the middle order . I know that Shakib is in great touch and he favours playing at three . But Bangladesh must put horses for the courses .Tamim , Soumya , Liton ,Mushfique , Shakib , Mahmudullah , Mosaddeq , Mehdy, Saifuddin can definitely tweet in that order . Bangladesh batted aggressively in last power play in the match against South Africa as early order batting laid great foundation for that. Both Mahmudullah and Mosaddeq can tee off quick and blast any attack.  If team decides playing the winning combination would suggest Mithunbatting at three and Shakib slotted at five. Playing Boult , Southee , Henry and Fergusson at the top and in the death overs would be the key.

New Zealand has known weakness against quality spinners though they possess three top international quality batsmen of the world in top four. Guptill , Williamson and Taylor are prolific batsmen when they get going. Mustafizand  Shakib usual can open the attack as getting a wicket or two in the first power play would be another winning formula . Shakibalways balls well against right handers .Saifuddin can be tried for three to four overs at the top  Mashrafee and Meraj can bowl in the middle overs . Saifuddin and Mustafiz can be saved for the last power play. If Mashrafee is not 100% can he resist himself and let Rubelreplace him in the match? But Bangladesh would need his charismatic leadership , instant decision taking ability when going gets tougher.

Having said all these it would not be so easy translating a strategy into reality . The graph of performance of Bangladesh is ascending. Hope it continues gathering momentum till the tournament gets to appoint where top fours separates from the rest . Best wishes Mashrafee squad.

BDST: 0638 HRS, JUNE 05, 2019
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