Following their thrilling final session victory over Pakistan in Hamilton in December, the BLACKCAPS Test side is back together and ready to take on Bangladesh in a two game series starting at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Thursday.
Here’s five things to watch out for in the first Test.
The Boss Is Back
After undergoing surgery to remove a growth on his eye, BLACKCAPS batting maestro Ross Taylor is back and ready to chase more history. The third all time New Zealand leading run scorer is coming off an unbeaten hundred in his last Test and is one century short of his mentor Martin Crowe’s all-time New Zealand record of 17 Test centuries. The 32-year-old is also in sight of 6000 Test runs and requires 80 more runs to reach 13,000 runs across all formats. Plenty of motivation for our big gun!
Another Green Mamba
The picture speaks for itself. Expect early spice! Last year the BLACKCAPS were put in on a similarly green tinged wicket and found themselves 51-5 after the first hour of play! The Bangladesh players could be forgiven for enquiring about the existence of the pitch and it’s fair to say they will find the going tougher than the Kiwi batsmen if put in on the first morning. Tim Southee and Trent Boult will be hoping that’s the case. Whatever happens - don’t miss the first session!
Tigers On The Rise
Bangladesh have lost all 20 wickets in a Test only twice in their last 10 fixtures, earning four wins and four draws in that span without losing consecutive games. They knocked over England in their last outing and are most certainly a team on the rise. However their away form continues to plague them. They’ve won only one of their last 10 Tests away from home since 2009 and have only ever won three times from 42 Tests on the road in their history. They've struggled to adapt so far on this tour - will that continue in the longest form of the game?
Let’s See That Again
Auckland duo Jeet Raval and Colin de Grandhomme starred in their debut series against Pakistan. Raval looked like an old pro at the top of the order and his average of 49.33 was a fair reflection of how well he feared against a quality seam attack in bowler friendly conditions. 'Mr Moustache' - de Grandhomme was an unlikely hero with the ball in his first Test claiming 6-46 - the best figures by a New Zealander on Test debut. Can they back it up? We hope so!
Climb Another Rung
The Test team are on a mission to improve their ranking and their clinical whitewash of a good Pakistan side moved them up a spot into sixth. Now they’re looking to go one higher into fifth with a 2-0 series win over Bangladesh. That will then set the scene nicely for a final end of season showdown with the high flying South Africans. Mouthwatering to say the least!
