Much to gain for both teams in dead rubber
The final fixture of the triangular One-Day International series being played in Ireland has no real import in terms of the tournament itself, with New Zealand having won the title with one game to spare. Bangladesh, its opponents on Wednesday (May 24), will end up second, no matter what, and the home side will finish bottom with only two points from a rain-spoilt opening game against Bangladesh. But the two teams facing off have the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 to worry about, and would hope to put on as good a show as possible before getting down to the important business.
New Zealand, as Jimmy Neesham said earlier in the script, wants to go through the tri-series unbeaten in keeping with their top-dog status among the three teams in the mix. Bangladesh, superior to Ireland but short of the standards set by New Zealand, will want to sign off with a win at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin to add to its confidence.
Bangladesh has looked the part, especially in its second game against Ireland which it won by eight wickets with 137 balls left in the chase of 182. Mustafizur Rahman led the way with the ball, returning 4 for 23 from nine overs, while the other bowlers, pacers and spinners alike, did their bit. Tamim Iqbal, who has been in good nick, scored 47 in the chase, while Soumya Sarkar’s unbeaten 87 in 68 balls and a 34-ball 35 from Sabbir Rahman were excellent portents for Bangladesh. Mustafizur’s performance, coming on the back of 2 for 33 in the earlier game against New Zealand following a stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League spent mainly on the bench, would also have made Mashrafe Mortaza and the team management happy.
New Zealand, meanwhile, has looked good without being too spectacular in the absence of some of its big names, who were occupied with the IPL. Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne, all of whom are in the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, were allowed to give the start of the tri-series a miss, and the fact that New Zealand has won all their three games so far without that firepower around should come as a major boost.
If the tournament opener between Ireland and Bangladesh hadn’t been washed away, and Bangladesh had managed to build on an excellent recovery by Tamim and Mahmudullah after having slipped to 47 for 3 and then 70 for 4 to get full points, Wednesday’s match would still be alive. In terms of the bigger picture, it might not make too big a difference, but the final game is still a chance for the Asian team to make a statement to the more fancied teams before the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, one that New Zealand will do its best to prevent. And it will back itself to pull it off, after an all-round effort with the ball and half-centuries from Tom Latham, the captain for this series, and Neesham took it to a four-wicket win with enough balls in hand in the first exchange against Bangladesh.
What will add a bit of edge to the contest is also the fact that New Zealand and Bangladesh are in the same group in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, along with Australia and England, and play each other in their final league game on June 9 at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. New Zealand’s team will change drastically between now and then, and their respective results against Australia and England might determine the mood of the two teams by then. But a point or four here wouldn’t do either of them any harm.
Teams (from)
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt), Hamish Bennett, Neil Broom, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Jeetan Patel, Seth Rance, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, George Worker, Corey Anderson, Adam Milne, Matt Henry.
