Does a Chepauk turner favour Bangladesh? That would be the question fans and the Tigers' cricket fraternity are wondering about the most ahead of Bangladesh's World Cup game against New Zealand today at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. The match is slated to begin at 2:30 PM (Bangladesh Time).

On one hand, whether spin or pace holds sway at the venue is still not discernible. India spin trio dominated against Australia in the hosts' World Cup opener and despite managing a below-par score, Australia's pacers created lots of problem for India's top-order in the evening. On the other hand, Tigers' pacers have not been able to sink their teeth into the conditions that were present in Dharmasala and would be hoping to turn things around at Chennai.

In the last three years, pacers dominated proceedings at the IPL in the venue. 135 wickets have fallen to pace in the last three seasons, compared to 96 for spinners. Trent Boult believes that Bangladesh have a good balance in spin and pace departments.

"Bangladesh are a quality side, very good spin setup but also very good pace-bowling stocks as well. They have been growing over the years and Fizz, Shoriful and Taskin are quality players that know the conditions well and we aren't going to take them lightly and it's a very big game for both teams," New Zealand pace spearhead Trent Boult told ICC ahead of the clash.

India's former leg-spinner Anil Kumble meanwhile felt that the Tigers need to fire together as an unit to get past a strong opponent such as New Zealand. The Kiwis have won both their World Cup fixtures so far and their spinners too have been able to dent Bangladesh's batting recently, with Ish Sodhi picking up six wickets at an ODI in Mirpur during New Zealand's recently-concluded tour.

"They are a good side, just that they are underperforming in international cricket for a while when it comes to such tournaments. Shakib Al Hasan is the best all-rounder for a long time for Bangladesh and in world cricket. He bowled brilliantly against England on a flat surface," Kumble felt about Bangladesh's chances at Chepauk while talking in Cricinfo's show.

"You expect batters to play together. Liton got some runs after he didn't get runs in the previous game. They need the entire squad to sort of do well. They have a good squad and got experience. They have a couple of good young players as well. Hridoy is a very good batter. They have a good mix, it's just a matter of all of them coming together," he added.