Tom Latham will lead the inexperienced New Zealand team. Which is against a really strong Bangladesh side which has more than enough experience. The wickets used against Australia were slow. And although Bangladesh have demanded better wickets. Will they get them? We’ll find out all that and more.

Bangladesh will be eyeing their maiden win when they take on weakened New Zealand. New Zealand decided to give many of their main players rest for this series ahead of T20 World Cup. The five match series is part of preparation for the ICC’s Men’s T20 World Cup and Blackcaps will be testing their bench strength in this series. 

For Bangladesh, who are coming into this match after a 4-1 win over visiting Australia, this series will be a chance to secure another series win on low and slow Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. The hosts will be favourite to win on home soil and will be eyeing revenge against Kiwis. Bangladesh lost all the six white-ball games during their tour of New Zealand. Check live cricket scores and updates of the 1^st T20I between hosts Bangladesh and New Zealand here:

TOSS: New Zealand opt to Bat

After thrashing Australia 4-1 in the five-match T20I series, Bangladesh should be ready to take on New Zealand’s challenge. The special thing is that New Zealand’s team is very weak. And its regular players are out of the series. Hello, and welcome to the opening T20I of the five-match series.

Teams:

Bangladesh (Playing XI):

Mohammad Naeem, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed

New Zealand (Playing XI):

Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell, Will Young, Colin de Grandhomme, Tom Latham (w/c), Henry Nicholls, Cole McConchie, Doug Bracewell, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy

Also Read: The Australian’s Hand in the Rise of Ollie Robinson