Bangladesh is optimistic about their win in New Zealand. In the absence of New Zealand's finest- Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson Bangladesh has a good opportunity to record a win. The team has also claimed the preparation period in New Zealand to be extremely fruitful.
Shakib Al Hasan's absence though is a big equalizing factor in this series. The New Zealand team is missing Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor too. Tom Latham, the stand-in captain, and openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls will surely make up with their own international experience.
Shakib will be missed as a middle-order batsman and the best bowler in away conditions, particularly in New Zealand. Bangladesh does have their favorite format of the game. So the series performance will be based on how the two sides use their experience. It will be interesting to see Bangladesh take on the in-form Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson. They will need Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Mustafizur Rahman to step up and be the match-winners.
New Zealand is all set to show off their ODI debut to Devon Conway, who already has three fifties in the format. Mushfiqur Rahim will be the support of Bangladesh's middle-order, particularly in the absence of Shakib. He will be the wicketkeeper too and is expected to shin under pressure. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal, when asked about his side's strength on this tour by ESPN Cricinfo, said, "We have a solid fast bowling attack this time. We have a few young players who I am excited to see. They have been doing exceptionally well in the practice games. Hopefully, we will have a good start tomorrow."
Let's have a look at the expected batting order for both teams: New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Henry Nicholls, 3 Devon Conway, 4 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 5 Will Young, 6 James Neesham, 7 Daryl Mitchell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Jamieson, 11 Trent Boult
Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Liton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mosaddek Hossain/Mohammad Mithun, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Soumya Sarkar, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Hasan Mahmud/Taskin Ahmed
In the last ODI played on this ground, Tim Southee took six-wickets after Mustafizur became the second Bangladesh bowler to concede more than 90 runs in an ODI. We expect some passionate performances in this series and hope the players will deliver the same.