Lots to play for in dead rubber

The Bangladesh cricket team will play their last tri-series game against New Zealand at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin today, and although New Zealand are already winners of the league-based competition by virtue of having won all their three matches so far, there will be plenty at stake for Bangladesh when they take the field at 3:45pm (Bangladesh time).

The four-wicket defeat in their first match against the Kiwis on May 17 means that Bangladesh are yet to win against their opponents in a match played away from home. While that may be incentive enough to put their best foot forward, there is the added benefit of moving up to sixth position in the ICC ODI rankings if they beat the Black Caps today, which will in turn greatly enhance their chances of qualifying directly to the 2019 ICC World Cup as one of the top eight teams.

Lending the match even more context is the fact that New Zealand and Bangladesh are in the same Champions Trophy group, and a win for either side will be a great confidence-booster when the teams meet next in the Group A clash on June 9 in Cardiff.

Both sides are coming off strong wins in their previous games -- Bangladesh beating Ireland convincingly by eight wickets on Friday and New Zealand thrashing the home team by 190 runs on Sunday -- and so there might not be many changes. New Zealand have benefited from the return of their Indian Premier League stars and the likes of Matt Henry, Corey Anderson and Colin Munro -- who hit a 15-ball 44 against Ireland -- certainly gives the Kiwis a more formidable look.

Bangladesh have some bowlers in their ranks who have not been featured so far such as Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed and Subashis Roy, and it remains to be seen whether they experiment by bringing them in or stick with a winning combination in a match that is more important than its academic nature suggests.