Knights test for Tigers

GOT IT? Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim dives full length to take a catch off Coach Jamie Siddons during a practice session at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday. PHOTO: TIGERCRICKET.COM

The first warm-up match in New Zealand is expected to give the Tigers a much-needed insight into how they are shaping up for the ODI series in two weeks time.
The tourists take on the Northern Knights at Seddon Park today. The game is scheduled to start at 12:00pm (7:00am Bangladesh Standard Time) and each team will be allowed to field 12 players.
Opening batsman Javed Omer, Mehrab Hossain and pace bowler Nazmul Hossain have been left out of Bangladesh's twelve.
James Marshall will lead The State Northern Knights in the absence of regular skipper Daniel Vettori who is in Australia leading the Black Caps in the Chappell-Hadlee series.
Vettori is acknowledged as Hamilton's most famous cricketing son and lives just across the Waikato River on the other side of the Bangladesh team's hotel.
Vettori apart, the Northern Districts is also home to New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris. Some other names who have donned the Northern colours in the past include Darryl Tuffey, Adam Parore and John Wright.
Seddon Park is the cricket centre of this quiet and scenic city of 1.4 million and the headquarters of Northern Districts Crickets Cricket association.
The pitch here according to the curator is expected to have consistent bounce but not “great pace”.
The pitches were relaid at Seddon Park in 2004 with soil imported from South Island after a history of low-scoring fixtures, including that infamous Test against Bangladesh in 2001-02 which ended in two and a half days including rain delays, and questions about its quality. But after the new soil had been put in, results have been more encouraging.
The Tigers had extended nets yesterday for all the batsmen and the bowlers also bowled lengthy spells to get into the groove of match conditions.
The weather was overcast at times and a bit windy, unlike the last two days and could be the same tomorrow which will aid seamers which Northern Districts are packed with.
The practice wickets are reportedly similar in nature to the pitches in the centre and Zunaed Siddique, who will open the innings tomorrow sounded confident about the challenge ahead.
“Often the mistake we batsmen make on seaming wickets is that we get on the back foot too early to length balls to allow the movement. Watching the ball till the last and not committing to a particular shot is the key and after batting on these practice pitches I am feeling a lot better. The bounce is not steep and if you can gauge the pace then it is a nice wicket to bat on,” said Siddique.
The Tigers will play the Knights again on Tuesday (December 18) and then travel to Auckland on December 21 to play the Auckland Aces in their last warm-up.
SQUADS
BANGLADESH: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Zunaed Siddique, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Shakib Al Hasan, Forhad Reza, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel and Shahadat Hossain Rajib.
THE STATE NORTHERN KNIGHTS: James Marshall (captain), Brent Arnel, Graeme Aldridge, S Andrews, Daniel Flynn, Nick Horsley, Peter McGlashan, Bruce Martin, Mark Orchard, G Robinson, Tim Southee and Bradley J Watling