New Zealand will be up against Bangladesh in the 2nd T20I of the Bangladesh tour of New Zealand at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on December 29. The three-match series is poised evenly between the two teams, as the first game in Durban got washed out after a long wait. It would be an interesting encounter in the left matches of the series as both teams will compete to win the series.

Both these teams had squared off against each other in their last encounter, the first game of the series being played at McLean Park in Napier. Bangladesh had won the toss in the last game, where they chose to field first. New Zealand did not start well, and soon, it was turning into a nightmare as they had lost three wickets on just one run. The middle order then took responsibility and steadied the storm, although they kept losing wickets regularly. They managed to amass a decent total of 134 runs at the loss of nine wickets.

Bangladesh, when came out to bat, started decently and better in comparison to the Kiwis but lost an early wicket as well. But the early wicket was compensated by two back-to-back decent partnerships which put them up in the driver’s seat. They did lose a couple of wickets in the process, but Litton Das stood his ground from one end to the finish. A steady knock of 42 runs from his bat proved to be match-winning for them, and they finished the game with eight balls to spare. They won the game by five wickets.

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Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui offers a pitch that is quite equally suitable for batters as well as bowlers. The pacers might enjoy bowling here with good movement off the track. Seam and swing movement may increase the work for batters, and they may have to work hard to get the runs. Teams prefer to bowl first here after winning the toss, with the average first innings score being 137.