Bangladesh went through the old-school grind in their first game of the tournament. They lost the game eventually but will be happy with a few things. To start, they were 35-6 before their lower middle-order rescued them with 90s style knocks. They scraped themselves to total and did a fair job with the ball as well. Dubai was low and slow, and India may seemed to have one comfortably on paper but Bangladesh did have their moments. An early wicket, or tying down the likes of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul a little more and they coud have run things a lot closer than it was.

New Zealand though are on a roll. If Bangladesh went with the 90s template, New Zealand beat Pakistan with the GenZ template of ODI Cricket. They started smoothly, focusing on strike-rotation after some early wickets while getting the occasional boundary every couple overs. They kept the scoreboard ticking well and went all guns blazing in the back end with Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips doing a lot of damage. Their commanding manner of victory sould keep them favorites against Bangladesh, but memories of 2017 exist. In 2017, Bangladesh, with the help of an incredible partnership from Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmadullah carried their side home in a chase to seal a Semi-Final spot knocking New Zealand out. 

BAN vs NZ Match Details

Date: February 24th, 2025

Time:  2:30 PM IST

Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium

BAN vs NZ Weather Report

Clear weather and a nice evening is expected for the game.

Bangladesh vs New Zealand Pitch Report

Average Score Batting First in the last five games: 278

Average Score Batting Second in the last five games: 273

Wins Batting First in the last five games: 1

Wins Batting Second in the last five games: 3

Known to be pretty flat, Rawalpindi doesn't change too much over the course of the game. Batting second is a better choice with the pitch pretty similar and easy to bat on throughout.

Bangladesh vs New Zealand Head to Head

Stats	Matches	Bangladesh Won	New Zealand Won	NR	Tie
Overall	45	11	33	1	0
At Rawalpindi	0	0	0	0	0
Last Five ODIs	5	1	4	5	0

BAN vs NZ Predicted Playing XI

NZ Playing XI

Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Will O Rourkee

BAN Playing XI

Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Jaker Ali, Rishaad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh vs New Zealand Key Players

Will Young

Will Young was a doubt for the eleven with Rachin Ravindra around. Ravindra's injury though gave Young a game and now Young stands undroppable. He was as fluent as ever in the first game and will enjoy a surface that gets the ball coming onto the bat even better. 

Towhid Hridoy

Hridoy too dug deep and played a really good innings in the previous game. He has a better track to bat on now and a lot more confidence which could bring even better out of him.

BAN vs NZ Match Tips

New Zealand start favorites with recent form looking good.

Match Prediction: New Zealand Will Win the Match