Twenty20 cricket has made a lot of appeal to the global audience especially to the younger generation but regrettably, Bangladesh haven’t had the best success when it comes to the shortest format of the game.
So, turning Bangladesh into a competitive T20 side would be the main goal for Mahmudullah Riyad, who is all set to lead the team as permanent captain against the Blackcaps in New Zealand later this month. The outcome of the upcoming 3-match series will affect the ICC’s T20I rankings. So, this article highlights the Twenty20 rankings prediction of Bangladesh and New Zealand at the end of the series.
Twenty20 Rankings Scenario: Bangladesh vs New Zealand Series
The 3-match twenty20 series between Bangladesh and New Zealand will begin on March 28. The rest of the two matches will be played on March 30 and April 1 respectively.
Match Venue Time (Bangladesh Standard Time)
1st T20I (28th March) Seddon Park, Hamilton 7 AM
2nd T20I (30th March) McLean Park, Napier 12 PM
3rd T20I (1st April) Eden Park, Auckland 12 PM
On the other side, New Zealand are now at the fifth position with 252 points but will move down to the sixth position if they lose one of their next two matches against arch-rival Australia. If that happens then the Kiwis have to whitewash Bangladesh in their upcoming series should they want to retain the fifth position.
Bangladesh are currently in the 8th position with 230 points. They have a real chance to improve their rankings as winning the series away from home will push the team tigers to the seventh position in the ICC twenty20 rankings. Similarly, failing to win a match will push them down to 10th place. To date, Bangladesh have won 33% of their twenty20 matches and the majority of their victories have come against the weaker oppositions. So, BCB is eager to take the Bangladesh T20 side to the next level in order to get notable success in major tournaments. The series against New Zealand will assess the overall strength of Bangladesh’s current T20 squad.
In another context, New Zealand will remain in the fifth position if they win the series against Bangladesh. But to make it happen, they will have to clinch the ongoing series against Australia by 4-1.
Let’s take a look at how ICC’s T20I rankings prediction gives us an idea about the series-end ranking scenario.
The probable ICC T20I rankings for BAN v NZ Series
Bangladesh win by 3-0
Eight points will be added and Bangladesh will move up to the seventh position with 239 points. On the other side, New Zealand will go down to the sixth position.
Bangladesh win by 2-0
Bangladesh will rank above Sri Lanka as five rating points will be added to their name, while New Zealand will move down to the sixth position.
Bangladesh win by 2-1
Bangladesh will be ranked seventh with 234 rating points. But the host Kiwi will lose their fifth position to South Africa.
Series draw 1-1
If the series ends 1-1, Bangladesh will achieve 1 point and move up to the seventh position in the ICC rankings. On the other side, New Zealand will remain in the fifth position but for that, they will have to win the ongoing series against Australia by 4-1.
New Zealand win by 3-0
New Zealand will remain in the fifth position with 255 points, while Bangladesh will move down to the 10th position and 4 points will be deducted from their rating points.
New Zealand win by 2-0
New Zealand will achieve some points but they will remain in the fifth position. On the other side, Bangladesh will move down to the 9th position with 227 rating points
New Zealand win by 2-1
New Zealand will likely lose the fifth position if they win the series against Bangladesh by 2-1. On the other side, Bangladesh can move up to the seventh position depending on the final result of the ongoing Sri Lanka vs Windies series.
Bottom Line
Bangladesh’s main target in this bilateral contest would be to secure a victory over New Zealand as they yet to win a match against the Blackcaps in their own backyard. Besides, ICC’s Twenty20 International Rankings Prediction suggests Bangladesh can improve their rankings. Thus, we can expect an interesting battle between these two sides.
