Milestone man eyes another Tigers upset

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has set his sights on a memorable 200th one-day international as his side chase a second successive World Cup win against New Zealand on Wednesday.

Shakib was the key man when Bangladesh upset South Africa by 21 runs in their opening match on Sunday.

His composed 75 helped steer Bangladesh to their highest ever ODI total of 6-330 before the spinner took 1-50 to restrict South Africa to 8-309.

The wicket made Shakib only the fifth player behind Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, South African Jacques Kallis, and Pakistan pair Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq to reach the landmark of 5,000 runs and 250 wickets in ODIs.

The 32-year-old's next challenge comes at The Oval against a New Zealand side who crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their opening match.

Shakib has experience of upsetting the Black Caps after inspiring their five-wicket win over New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy with the most recent of his seven ODI hundreds.

Image Id: B4671DB30CF74AB498140E37E1C90170 Image Caption: Bangladesh celebrate a surprise victory over New Zealand at the 2017 Champions Trophy // Getty

Bangladesh missed Shakib when a finger injury ruled him out of a series in New Zealand earlier this year – one in which they were routed 3-0 by the hosts. The allrounder hopes Bangladesh will put up a tougher fight against New Zealand this time.

"Building up to this World Cup, we knew what challenges we might face. We prepared well, so that gave us a lot of confidence and belief. We came to this World Cup wanting to do well," he said.

"We are up for the challenge but at the same time we are relaxed. We knew we had the skill to beat big teams.

"I think that we are in a good place, mentally. I think if we can continue in this manner, we can go a long way in the tournament."

Shakib will become only the third Bangladesh player to reach 200 ODIs, behind skipper Mashrafe Mortaza (210) and Mushfiqur Rahim (206).

But he remains modest about his milestone moment.

"I'm very happy the way I contributed (in the last game). If I do that every time, the stats will take care of themselves," Shakib said.

"I don't normally look at it (statistics), but if people are talking about it, I obviously feel happy."

New Zealand showed against Sri Lanka they are a well-rounded team more than capable of going a long way in the tournament.

They appeared not to miss pace spearhead Tim Southee (calf) and top-order batsman Henry Nicholls (hamstring) in their opening game.

Matt Henry, who replaced Southee, took three wickets, while openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill knocked off the 137 required in just 16.1 overs.

World Cup runners-up in 2015, New Zealand can also call on pace bowler Lockie Ferguson, who took three wickets against Sri Lanka.

"I guess you want to build that momentum early. If we bowl first in the next few games we can hopefully continue to do that and make it difficult for the guys to score," Guptill said.

"Then if we can come out and play with a bit of freedom like we did this afternoon with the bat, I think we'll have a pretty successful tournament."

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE