Bangladesh WWWLL (last five completed games, most recent first)
New Zealand LLLWW
In the spotlight: Bangladesh’s middle-order and Ish Sodhi
There was a lot of concern about Bangladesh’s middle-order ahead of the T20I series. Hridoy had a difficult outing in the third ODI, when he couldn’t farm the strike in the death overs with lower-order batters batting with him. Hridoy, however, turned things around with Parvez and Shamim in the first T20I, as they put up one of the best performances by the Bangladesh middle-order in a T20I chase. Parvez is a convert, having only started batting in the middle order since the start of this year, while Shamim shed the rust of not playing a competitive match for two months with some mind-boggling shots.
Team news: Lennox could get a game
Bangladesh are unlikely to change the team that played in the first T20I.
Bangladesh: 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Parvez Hossain Emon, 4 Litton Das (capt, wk), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Ripon Mondol
New Zealand: 1 Tim Robison, 2 Katene Clarke, 3 Dane Cleaver (wk), 4 Nick Kelly (capt), 5 Bevon Jacobs, 6 Dean Foxcroft, 7 Josh Clarkson, 8 Nathan Smith, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Matt Fisher/Jayden Lennox, 11 Ben Lister
Despite the change of venue from Chattogram to Dhaka, the forecast remains bad. The pitches in Dhaka have been under the covers for a few days, and that could mean moisture on the top layer, which could aid the fast bowlers. But there’s every chance the match will be hit hard by the weather. The second T20I in Chattogram was only the second instance of a T20I being abandoned without a ball bowled in Bangladesh.
