New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won a third straight toss in Chattogram and, once more, decided to bowl first in the final ODI with the series locked at 1-1. “We’re comfortable chasing here,” he told the host broadcaster, keen to see his quicks make early use of a pitch that still carries a tinge of green.
The tourists have tweaked their seam attack, preferring left-armer Ben Lister to Blair Tickner. Lister’s extra angle, assistant coach Luke Ronchi said on match-eve, “should give us a different look in those first ten overs.”
Bangladesh, meanwhile, have freshened up both pace and spin. Mustafizur Rahman is back after a short rest, while slow left-armer Tanvir Islam replaces leg-spinner Rishad Hossain. Taskin Ahmed also sits out. Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz called the switches “horses for courses,” adding that Mustafizur’s cutters “remain gold in these conditions.”
The first two matches have swung sharply. New Zealand took the opener by 26 runs thanks to Dean Foxcroft’s measured 70 and a combined seven-wicket haul from Tickner and Nathan Smith. Two days later, Nahid Rana’s 5-32 and Tanzid Hasan’s brisk fifty powered Bangladesh to a straightforward chase of 199, levelling the contest.
After today’s ODI, both sides stay in Chattogram for back-to-back T20Is before finishing the tour in Dhaka on 2 May. With a tight schedule and steamy April weather, squad depth could yet decide the outcome.
Playing XIs
Bangladesh: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (c), Tanvir Islam, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana.
New Zealand: Henry Nicholls, Nick Kelly, Will Young, Dean Foxcroft, Tom Latham (c & wk), Muhammad Abbas, Josh Clarkson, Nathan Smith, Ben Lister, Will O’Rourke, Jayden Lennox.
The first ball is due at 10.30am local time.
