Bangladesh desperate for a win to keep their Champions Trophy campaign alive
Two teams, meeting each other in very different circumstances as Bangladesh head into their second match at the Champions Trophy, looking to avoid early elimination while New Zealand know that another win will all but lock in a semi-final spot for them.
Ahead of the sixth match of the Champions Trophy 2025 between Bangladesh and New Zealand, here’s our match preview and predictions.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 6: Bangladesh vs New Zealand | 14:30 IST, February 24
Bangladesh’s top and middle order had a rough outing in their opening game as they were reeling early on at 35/5 before Jaker Ali and Towhrid Hridoy, both fortunate to continue due to sloppy fielding, but both looked solid to bail Bangladesh out and in conditions which should suit their batting, the Bangla Tigers have a lot of experience in the batting depth and experience in the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Bangladesh’s bowling unit, though, will be tested against a Kiwi squad who are well-accustomed to the Pakistani conditions after having spent almost a month in the country now. Taskin Ahemd and Mustafizur Rahman have a ton of experience in these conditions while the young Rishad Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz will be the frontline spinners.
The Kiwis on the other hand had a near-perfect opening game with Will Young and Tom Latham scoring centuries while Glenn Phillips’ late fireworks powered them to 320. If Mitchell Santner has any doubts at all regarding his batting lineup it would be his two veteran batters, Devon Conway and Kane Williamson missing out and Santner will hope both find some runs before heading into a deeper run. Santner himself was clinical with the ball while Will O’Rourke and Matt Henry have formed a formidable opening pair in the absence of Lockie Ferguson.
The sixth game of the Champions Trophy 2024 will also see the action move to Rawalpindi where Bangladesh completed a heroic Test series clean sweep against Pakistan last year. The Rawalpindi track will bring about a lot of runs and we should be in for a high-scoring game with the spinners set to have a strong showing on a pitch which should bring about a lot of assistance for them while the seamers early on with the new ball should be threatening as well. It will be the Kiwis starting as the favourites in this encounter give their recent form, squad strength and being more comfortable with the conditions.
Fantasy XI: Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Mushfiqur Rahim, Glenn Phillips, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mitchell Santner, Mustafizur Rahman, Will O’Rourke
Venue: Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: New Zealand
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