Hamilton, New Zealand: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and chose to bowl Friday in the Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at Seddon Park.
Bangladesh will be without its captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who has a sore throat. Shakib Al Hasan will lead the team in Mortaza's absence while Nasir Hossain joins the Bangladesh lineup along with Taijul Islam, who replaces Arafat Sunny.
For the first time in its six pool matches, unbeaten New Zealand has been forced to make a change to its lineup. Mitchell McClenaghan will play his first match at the World Cup as a replacement for fast bowler Adam Milne, who injured his shoulder in New Zealand's recent match against Afghanistan.
Both teams have qualified for the quarterfinals and New Zealand has clinched top spot in Pool A. It will face the West Indies, Pakistan or Ireland in a March 21 quarterfinal in Wellington, depending on the outcome of matches between the West Indies and UAE and Pakistan and Ireland on Sunday.
Bangladesh is in fourth spot in Pool A and, if it remains in that position, will play Pool B leader India at Melbourne on Thursday. If it beats New Zealand Friday and improves its net run rate, it could finish third and would then face South Africa in the quarterfinals.
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Lineups:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (captain), Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Trent Boult.
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lanka, Richard Kettelborough, England.
Third umpire: Nigel Llong, England. Match referee: Chris Broad, England.
