Tigers look to stay alive

Bangladesh will return to the only venue in New Zealand where they have tasted victory in ODIs, the Saxton Oval in Nelson, after almost seven years to take on the Kiwis in the second ODI of the three-match series in hopes of keeping the series alive.

The match will begin tomorrow at 4:00 am Bangladesh time and will be televised live by Nagorik TV and Green TV.

On March 5, 2015, Bangladesh defeated Scotland by six wickets in their group-stage match of the ICC World Cup in Nelson.

However, the Tigers then played a couple of ODIs against the Kiwis at the same venue in December 2016, suffering convincing defeats on both occasions.

Najmul Hossain Shanto’s team will hope that a return to Nelson will improve their fortunes in the series, which began with a 44-run defeat via DLS method in a rain-curtailed match in Dunedin last Sunday.

In that game, Bangladesh bowlers had done well to keep the Kiwi batters quiet early on after Shoriful Islam rattled them with a couple of strikes in the first over.

But after the third rain interruption in the innings, which turned the match into a 30-over-a-side contest, Will Young and Tom Latham started their assault to set a 245-run target which proved too much for the visitors.

If Bangladesh lose today, the hosts will take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

A win, however, will end Bangladesh’s 17-ODI losing streak against the Kiwis in New Zealand and present them with a chance to clinch a maiden ODI series against the hosts in their backyard.