New Zealand vs Bangladesh 2nd ODI Prediction

BAN Team News

Despite facing a big defeat in the first ODI, Bangladesh may not make too many changes to their side for the second one-day international. Sabbir Rahman could not contribute much with the bat upon his return to international cricket but he will probably be given another opportunity before the team starts looking for an alternative. The only change that the visitors might make for this game is that they could bring Shafiul Islam in place of Mohammad Saifuddin who was the most expensive of the Bangladeshi bowlers. The rest of their line-up is expected to remain unchanged.

BAN Key Players

Bangladesh will need their big guns Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah to fire with the bat. They collectively scored just 23 runs in the first ODI and the team will be hoping for a much better performance from this trio. Tamim batted brilliantly in the final of the BPL and it will be crucial that he replicates that form on Saturday. Mohammad Mithun was the only bright spot for Bangladesh in the last game with a knock of 62 and so there will be high expectations from him as well. Mustafizur Rahman and Mashrafe Mortaza failed to pick wickets while Mehidy Hasan managed to pick just one. However, none of them conceded too many runs and the team will want them to continue to bowl tight spells. Mortaza finished with an economy of under 4 and he will look to apply pressure on the Kiwis in the first ten overs.

BAN Recent Form

Bangladesh now have five wins and two losses in their last seven one-day internationals. They came into this series on the back of a 3-0 clean sweep of Zimbabwe and a 2-1 win over the West Indies at home. The visitors suffered an eight-wicket defeat in the first match of the ongoing series against New Zealand. They put on a disappointing show with the bat and a top-order collapse left them reeling at 94-6 at one stage.