No way but up for Bangladesh

Friday, February 5
Start time 14.00 (01.00 GMT)

Big Picture

It has been a year to forget so far for Bangladesh, slumping to big defeats in each of their seven matches across all formats, topped off by the thrashing in the Twenty20 on Wednesday. And there's little to cheer them from their past record in New Zealand as well, brushed aside by the home side on every occasion.

To make matters worse, one-dayers are New Zealand's strongest suit. Their previous two assignments were a surprise run to the ICC Champions Trophy final and a series win over Pakistan in the UAE. All that makes a New Zealand victory on Friday seem as certain as a Meryl Streep Oscar nomination.

What will hearten Bangladesh, though, is that New Zealand are missing four first-choice one-day players: Jesse Ryder, Grant Elliott, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills. Also, while it was not on evidence during the walloping in Hamilton, this is a much-improved Bangladesh side from the one that visited in 2007 - with a lot more experience, a world-class allrounder in Shakib Al Hasan and possessing the ability to shock top sides on their day, as Sri Lanka and West Indies found last year.

For New Zealand, this series will be a loosener for the big home contest coming up, the trans-Tasman clash with Australia.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand WWLLW
Bangladesh LLLLW

Watch out for

Peter Ingram: The Central Districts opener has had to wait nearly a decade after his first-class debut to get his chance on the international stage, and he got a chance to ease himself into the top level during the straightforward chase in the one-off Twenty20. A clean striker of the ball and not too fussy about his footwork, Ingram has been prolific in domestic cricket over the past few seasons and knows his game well.

Mohammad Ashraful: His international career is as long as Ingram's first-class one, but though there have been occasional flashes of brilliance, consistency has eluded Ashraful all along. With more than 150 one-dayers under his belt, the time has come for him to deliver the performances expected of a senior player.

Team news

While New Zealand haven't made any announcement yet on their XI, the left-arm quick Andy McKay is likely to be the one missing out in Napier.

New Zealand: (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Peter Ingram, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 James Franklin, 9 Ian Butler, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Tim Southee.

Bangladesh relied heavily on their spinners during the promising run in 2009, but the slow bowlers have had little impact in Napier over the years, meaning the visitors will have to bolster the pace attack. Rubel Hossain is their fastest bowler, and could get a look-in ahead of one of the three pacers who played on Wednesday.

Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Aftab Ahmed, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rashim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Shahadat Hossain, 10 Shafiul Islam/Rubel Hossain, 11 Nazmul Hossain

Pitch and conditions

Napier has traditionally been one of the better pitches for batting in New Zealand - teams batting first have generally managed to get close to or above 300 over the past six years - and Friday promises to continue that trend. Rain isn't expected to interrupt the match on what promises to a pleasant day, maximum temperature predicted at 22 degrees.

Stats

• Bangladesh haven't won a match in New Zealand yet, the only time the two met at Napier in a ODI was in 2007, when the home side won by 102 runs
• With only one half-century in 17 innings over the past 12 months, Raqibul Hasan's place in the side is under threat

Quotes

"In the last series against India and Sri Lanka we consistently made around 250 a game so this is a very good sign for us."

"We're under no illusions that these guys are capable of knocking us over at any given time so we have to play as well as we have done [in the Twenty20]."
Complacency, what's that? Asks Brendon McCullum