Captain Kane pulls rank
Kane Williamson wasn’t drawn on celebrating New Zealand’s elevation to second in the test rankings ahead of the Black Caps returning to test cricket against Bangladesh in Hamilton today.
South Africa’s surprise home series loss to Sri Lanka propelled New Zealand to world No 2 in the test arena for the first time.
The Black Caps will pull on the whites again when hosting Bangladesh at Seddon Park in the first match of a three-test series and skipper Williamson was keen to ditch talk of their historic ranking as they target an unprecedented fifth successive test series triumph. ‘‘It’s something you don’t focus on. You’re just focusing on the cricket you play,’’ Williamson said yesterday.
‘‘I guess if you can sit down at the end of the season and look back, it might be something you look back fondly on. But there’s a lot of tough cricket between now and the end of the season.’’
Williamson confirmed New Zealand’s side for the test. As expected, Todd Astle is back as leading spinner, Matt Henry drops out with batting cover Will Young also cut.
After trouncing Bangladesh 3-0 in the one-day matches, the Black Caps start the tests as massive favourites.
But Williamson, while acknowledging the recent spate of surprise test results, was quick to point out that ‘‘every team in international cricket is a threat’’ with Bangladesh still chasing a first test win against New Zealand, who haven’t lost a test at Seddon Park since 2012.
‘‘They’re all very, very talented,’’ Williamson said. ‘‘Sri Lanka [winning] in South Africa was a fantastic result. It’s hard to
beat them anywhere – let alone in their backyard. Anybody can beat anybody.’’
Williamson also touched on Bangladesh’s previous tour of New Zealand in 2017 when the tourists posted 595-8 batting first in Wellington, but collapsed to a seven-wicket defeat en route to a 2-0 series loss.
Bangladesh have beaten England, Sri Lanka and Australia on home soil, with their latest series in the whites being a 2-0 home win against the West Indies, but they have typically struggled with conditions overseas.
Evidence from the one-day series suggests Bangladesh found the movement of New Zealand’s fast bowlers particularly troubling.
The pace attack of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme will no doubt relish firing down a swinging red ball.
Stand-in Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah acknowledged ‘‘conditions would be tough’’ for his side but said they would be ‘‘positive’’ in their approach as Bangladesh seek a first test victory on the road since winning in Sri Lanka almost two years ago.
At a glance
What: New Zealand v Bangladesh, first test Where, when: Seddon Park, Hamilton from 11am today
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult.
Bangladesh (from): Mahmudullah (c), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mominul Haque, Mohammad Mithun, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Shadman Islam, SK Ahmed, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Mustafizur Rahman.