Bangladesh look to cap off phenomenal year in T20s with a series win

A rained-out affair on December 29 in Mount Maunganui ensured that Bangladesh cannot lose the T20I series against New Zealand, which means they will end 2023 without a single T20I series loss immaterial of the result on Sunday. But they will look beyond that as they chase their first-ever T20I series win in New Zealand in the hopes of ending the year on a high.

In a year where they exited the Asia Cup early and performed below par in the ODI World Cup, their growth in the T20I format has been a positive for Bangladesh. Having secured bilateral T20I series wins against England, Ireland and Afghanistan, and finishing with the bronze medal in the Asian Games by defeating Pakistan with a second-string side, Bangladesh will be hoping to round off their T20I success with the scalp of New Zealand. The hosts, meanwhile, will be hoping for a strong comeback and prevent Bangladesh from creating a historic moment for themselves in the 20-over format.

The batting let New Zealand down in both their first-ever ODI loss and their maiden T20I loss to Bangladesh at home. Getting bowled out for 98 and then being restricted to 134/9, New Zealand got to 72/2 in the second T20I before rain played spoilsport. But there were some moments of struggle for New Zealand in the second game too, with Finn Allen falling early and Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips not able to get on with the scoring.

The Black Caps will be hoping for an improved showing with the bat while Bangladesh will reflect on their strong bowling performances in the recent games in their bid to sign off 2023 with their fourth bilateral T20I series win.

When: Sunday, December 31, 2023, 1:00 PM Local Time

Where: Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui

What to expect: The forecast is for bright skies with temperatures in the early 20s. The pitch has been helpful for the batters in the past, especially in the first innings - there have been five 190-plus totals in the first innings here, with two of them being 238 and 243.

Team news:

New Zealand: The hosts might go in with an unchanged eleven, although there is a case for Rachin Ravindra to make the eleven considering their recent batting struggles.

Probable XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Ben Sears

Bangladesh: Litton Das was ruled out of the previous game due to a knee injury, with Shamim Hossain replacing him. If the wicketkeeper-batter hasn't made sufficient recovery, Bangladesh are likely to stick to the same eleven they fielded for the second game.

Probable XI: Rony Talukdar, Shamim Hossain/Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman