CT2017: Desperate New Zealand, Bangladesh face off in must-win tie (Preview)

After they both lost their matches to hosts England and their respective matches against Australia ended in rain-induced no results, Bangladesh and New Zealand head into their final Group A clash of the ICC Champions Trophy here on Friday, desperately needing a win, knowing that also may not fetch them a semi-final berth.

Both Bangladesh and New Zealand have a point apiece and need to win their Friday's fixture in Wales to make it to the last-four stage besides hoping for Australia to beat England in their final group match at Edgbaston on Sunday.

England have already booked their place in the semi-finals of the eight-team tournament and if they lose to the Kangaroos that will effectively end any hopes of Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Going into Friday's encounter, Bangladesh will once again bank on the in-form Tamim Iqbal, who started the tournament with a century against England before making 95 against Australia.

Bangladesh will however, have the psychological edge over the Kiwis, having beaten them by five wickets in a warm-up match in Dublin.

Cardiff could also turn once again lucky for Bangladesh, who had previously upset a powerful Australia way back in 2005.

On the other hand, New Zealand will have their hopes pinned on their skipper Kane Williamson, who struck a brilliant hundred against Australia before following up with 97 against England.

In case Williamson fails, the other Kiwi batsmen will have to shoulder the responsibility and not repeat their pathetic show against England, which saw them losing their last eight wickets for 65 runs.

Williamson, who was docked 40 percent of his match fee for slow over rate offences, will also need to be careful in his on-field discussions with the team, if he doesn't want to be banned for a match.

Teams:

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicketkeeper), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Sunzamul Islam, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.

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 (Wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

--IANS

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