Kane Williamson thinks the biggest challenge for all teams in the ongoing World Cup is adjusting to varying surfaces at the different venues in India. The truth in that observation will probably be reflected aptly on Friday when the Black Caps take on Bangladesh in Chennai.
The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai offers one of the most challenging surfaces in this country, as was seen during the India-Australia match a few days ago.
The pitch in Chennai will test both teams on Friday. New Zealand, who have two wins from two, will have to deal with Bangladesh’s spin attack. Having said that, Bangladesh, with one win and one loss, haven’t looked the most confident side with the bat either and will have to deal with New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who has already scalped seven wickets, including a fifer.
“You go from venue to venue, and they do vary a lot, and we have seen here that there’s been that spin, and the pitch has varied perhaps as the games moved on as well, throughout the day. But definitely, both teams have some good spin bowlers that no doubt will play a big part tomorrow (Friday),” Williamson said on Thursday.
Williamson, the regular ODI captain of the team who missed the first two games, will be available on Friday. While that’s good news, it also means that the Black Caps will have to drop someone from the winning combination to accommodate the 33-year-old. It can’t of course be Rachin Ravindra, who batted at No.3 in Williamson’s absence. The all-rounder has a hundred and fifty to his credit.
But the Black Caps will continue to miss the services of senior pacer Tim Southee, who is still recovering from a fractured thumb.
Bangladesh will spin their hopes around their spin trio of captain Shakib-al Hasan, Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who have taken 11 wickets among them from two matches.
New Zealand have the upper hand in terms of the teams’ head-to-head record, having won 30 of the 41 meetings between them. But that’s not all, the Black Caps will also be ahead a few steps from Bangladesh because many of their players, like Santner, are not strangers to the Chennai surface. They would thank the IPL for that.
Written with inputs from PTI
