Wales [U.K]: New Zealand and Bangladesh will head into their final group match of the Champions Trophy in Cardiff on Friday knowing that even a victory might not be enough to see either of the two teams reaching the semi-finals.
The Kane Williamson-led side are standing at the bottom of the Group A table, while Bangladesh are one spot ahead in the third position.
The two sides have just a point apiece in the eight-team marquee tournament after they slumped to a comprehensive defeat by England, while their respective matches against two-time winner Australia were abandoned.
In order to keep their hopes alive of making it to the playoffs, both sides will now face a do-or-die situation.
On the other hand, if Australia manage to clinch a victory against hosts England at Edgbaston, both teams will qualify for the semi-finals.
Here are some facts about the two sides:
· New Zealand have won five of the last six meetings with Bangladesh; though they did lose the most recent encounter.
· These sides have met before in the Champions Trophy; the Black Caps recording a 167-run win during the 2002 edition of the competition.
· New Zealand have lost successive ODI matches at this venue in Cardiff (both against England); having previously won their three games played there (vs Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka).
· Bangladesh beat Australia in their only previous appearance at this venue; claiming a five-wicket win there in 2005.
· Only once before in six previous matches has the toss-winning side gone on to win the game in the Champions Trophy at Cardiff.
· These sides are both sat on one point in the 2017 Champions Trophy; even a win in this fixture won’t necessarily guarantee safe passage through to the semi-final stage ( Australia will qualify with a victory over England).
· Tim Southee (currently on 157) needs two more to go 6th in the all-time list of leading ODI wicket-takers for New Zealand (leapfrogging Hadlee).
· Kane Williamson (1795) needs 93 more runs to go 2nd in the list of most ODI runs scored as New Zealand skipper (currently Fleming top and Brendon McCullum in second).
Squads:
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, James Neesham, Jeetan Patel, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal Mohammad Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Imrul Kayes, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Sunzamul Islam and Shafiul Islam.(ANI)