Tigers' golden opportunity to win the Test series

The win in the first Test probably has not sunk in yet but Bangladesh have to get ready for a bigger challenge of facing a wounded New Zealand at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch where the home side has a superb record. New Zealand, although known as the nicest guys in cricket, are a fiercely competitive team and will be desperate to bounce back. 

On the other hand, Bangladesh, a side completely dependent on momentum, will look to make the best use of their confidence after the historic win in Mount Maunganui. 

The second Test will be the last match in whites for Black Caps giant Ross Taylor, their most prolific batter. The hosts will definitely want to gift Taylor a win before he hangs his boot. 

At Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand have won six out of eight Tests and lost just one. The teams bowling first won five out of seven Tests in which results were produced which gives an idea about the nature of the pitch. 

Change in the opening combo on the cards

Mahmudul Hasan Joy, in his second Test match, played a dogged knock of 78, staying in the middle for nearly five hours. But the youngster injured his right hand while fielding and split his webbing between the third and fourth fingers. The injury ruled him out of the second Test, leaving a void. 

Uncapped opening batter Mohammad Naim, who is a regular member of the T20 set-up, might be handed a debut. The left-handed batter has played six first-class matches so far, scoring 183 runs at an average of 16.6. 

There is another option of having Najmul Hossain Shanto open the innings with Shadman Islam and play an extra bowler in place of Joy but Bangladesh are not likely to change the seven batters-four bowlers combination.

In focus - Pitch 

The pitch at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui looked green in the beginning but did not take much time to brown up. The ball did not do as much off the pitch as it usually does in New Zealand. But the pitch at Hagley Oval in Christchurch will be more challenging as the grass will be livelier and the pacers will get more help from it. New Zealand's Ross Taylor said that the conditions in Christchurch will suit their team. 

"I think it's going to have bounce and carry the whole time and there's going be a lot of grass on it."

"I'm sure the bowlers will be licking their lips and obviously our batters need to do apply ourselves better than we did," added the former New Zealand captain.

But the seamers of the visiting team showed their credentials in the first Test and the match was a testament of what they are capable of in useful conditions. New Zealand batters should be wary of the confident pace trio of Bangladesh. 

Toss the most important factor? 

As mentioned earlier, teams bowling first have won five out of seven matches in which results were produced in Christchurch. So the toss becomes an important factor. It turned out to be a key factor in the first Test as well. It is often the case in New Zealand. Captains winning the toss most often choose to bowl first here. 

Toss becomes even more important in Christchurch given the previous records. So it is likely that the team winning the toss will decide to field first and definitely have an upper hand. 

Players to watch out for

Tom Latham looked out of sorts in both innings of the first Test match against Bangladesh. It was a rare double-innings failure for the New Zealand captain and in the absence of Kane Williamson, Latham will be keen to lead by example. His records on this venue speak for themselves. Latham has scored 612 runs in 15 innings at an average of nearly 44 there. No batter has scored more runs than him at the Hagley Oval and New Zealand will hope that their captain would turn up in the second Test.

Liton Das, Bangladesh's wicketkeeper-batter, did a fine job in the middle order in the first match in the absence of the experienced Shakib Al Hasan. He looked the most comfortable batter on the show and narrowly missed out on a well-deserved century. Liton has scored 630 runs in 13 innings at an average of 52.3 in the last 12 months. Only Dimuth Karunaratne, Joe Root and Fawad Alam average higher than Liton (minimum 10 innings) during this period. Mominul Haque and Bangladesh will expect Liton to continue in this fashion.

Day one of the second Test match will begin at 4 am BDST on Sunday.