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New Zealand eye Champions Trophy semi-final spot as Bangladesh reckon

RAWALPINDI: New Zealand batter Kane Willamson bats in the nets during a practice session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.—Tanveer Shahzad/White Star
RAWALPINDI: New Zealand batter Kane Willamson bats in the nets during a practice session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.—Tanveer Shahzad/White Star

RAWALPINDI: New Zealand will look to cement their place in the ICC Cha­mpions Trophy semi-finals when they take on Bangladesh here at the Ra­w­alpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday.

The BlackCaps are in immense form, having thrashed hosts Pakistan by 60 runs in the tournament opener. Earlier, they had also gone unbeaten in the tri-nation series, proving their mettle as a side to fear in South Asian conditions.

They will be up against a Bangladesh team which didn’t trouble India much before going down to one of the title favo­urites by six wickets. But New Zea­l­and won’t be taking their opponents lightly.

“We know Bangladesh are a very good side, we’ve played them a lot in the past and I guess here in Pindi its usually a pretty good wicket so we know they can be quite destructive,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said in the pre-match press conference.

Over the last four One-day Intern­ationals, almost each of their player has shown up with match-winning performances. While veteran batter Kane Will­iamson hit a century in the tri-nation series, opener Will Young and Tom Latham emulated him in the Cha­m­pions Trophy match against Pakistan.

Glenn Phillips has stamped his authority as a hard-hitting batter down the order while pacers Will O’Rourke and Matt Henry have filled up the voids left by Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

“… it’s a nice position to have. I think obviously the lead-in we had with that tri-Nations series was a good time for guys to get time in the middle,” Santner observed. “I think at different stages of every game we’ve played, different guys have stepped up, which is probably the most pleasing thing.”

The New Zealand skipper believed the pitch in Rawalpindi would be slightly different from how conditions were in Karachi.

“I think we’ll have to adapt here with a different surface in Rawalpindi, traditionally maybe a little bit more bounce, but that’s usually pretty good to bat,” Santner said. “I think traditionally it’s quite a high-scoring ground so we have to be on it then with the bat, we just talk about trying to build partnerships and do that out there.”

For Bangladesh, it will be an uphill task to beat a New Zealand side, who have all their bases covered and momentum behind them. But the Najmul Hossain-led team had a few prominent positives to take on from their defeat against India.

From being 35-5 at one point, Towhid Hridoy’s century and Jaker Ali’s fifty lifted Bangladesh to 228 before leg-spinner Rishad Hossain’s brilliant show with the ball saw the match stretched to the 47th over.

Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons hoped his team will put up an even better show against New Zealand.

“All the games in this tournament are pressure games,” he said. “It’s the top eight in the world and you expect every game to be hard.

“Yes, they’ve been playing well but tomorrow is a new day so we will try and make sure that they don’t play as well as they’ve been playing.”

Bangladesh are also assessing veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad’s fitness ahead of the game and Simmons said the player’s availability would add balance to the team.

“He has to do a fitness test today and then we’ll know after practice today whether he’s fit enough for selection,” he informed.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2025



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