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New year, new format offers hope for Bangladesh
- Updated: January 2, 2017
Match facts
Tuesday, January 3, 2017 Start time 7pm local time (0600 GMT)
Big picture
The 0-3 defeat to New Zealand in the ODIs has taken some confidence away from the Bangladesh side but the visitors have a chance to salvage their tour in the three-match T20I series, which starts from Tuesday in Napier.
Bangladesh will bank on a settled line-up in the format, similar to their ODI team, and Mashrafe Mortaza will hope the side can avoid repeating the mistakes they made in the 50-over format. Their inability to build on a good start has become a recurrent problem. Tuesday’s match offers a chance for Bangladesh to address their weaknesses in batting and start anew.
Bangladesh have included Shuvagata Hom and Taijul Islam in the squad for the first T20. The visitors would also hope their continued belief in Soumya Sarkar pays off, given the batsman’s lack of runs for more than a year. Rubel Hossain, who did not play the ODIs, could also find a spot in the T20 line-up, having done well in the BPL recently.
The home side, meanwhile, have a strong line-up to pin Bangladesh. The uncapped batsman Tom Bruce, who has a strike rate of 156 in T20s, is expected to bolster the middle order with Corey Anderson and Colin Munro. New Zealand allrounder Ben Wheeler, who played six ODIs between June and August 2015, has been picked in the squad, along with Neil …
