Hamilton: Bangladesh begin their tour of New Zealand with a Twenty20 fixture in Hamilton and, despite the gulf between their respective standings in the pecking order of the game, both sides will look forward to the face-off as an opportunity to settle nerves and fire a strong opening salvo.

This short series of 3 ODIs, one test and one T-20 gives both teams a good look at where they stand.

Brendom McCullum will have fond memories of the only previous 20-20 game at Seddon Park, when he caned the West Indies bowlers to set up an easy win. He will have equally fond memories of batting against Bangladesh, in particular his brutal, unbeaten 80 in a Queenstown ODI that ended in quick time.

Bangladesh may not have found a pace bowler of Mortaza's quality but in Shakib al Hasan they have a strong stand-in for the captaincy. In the past, he has opened the bowling for Bangladesh in the shortest format and his searching lines and lack of pace could set up an intriguing duel against Kiwis.

Team news

New Zealand: The home team are expected to Brendon McCullum to handle duties behind the stumps in addition to opening the innings. He is most likely to be accompanied at the top by Peter Ingram, who is set to debut at the age of 31.

Squad (likely): Brendon McCullum (wk), Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor (vice-capt), Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Nathan McCullum, James Franklin, Ian Butler, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee.

Bangladesh announced their side a day early, leaving out Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique. Aftab Ahmed comes back into the picture, and could share opening duties with the in-form Tamim Iqbal. The promotion to Mohammad Ashraful and the lower-order firm of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, augurs well for the visitors.

Squad (likely): Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib al Hasan (capt), Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shahadat Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain.

Pitch and conditions
Expect a pitch full of runs, and nippy conditions that could see the ball moving around. Though there is almost no chance of rain, the forecast is for cloudy skies, with the temperature hovering around 20C.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh have lost their last nine Twenty20 matches.
• With 813 runs in 30 innings, Brendon McCullum is the most prolific batsman in Twenty20 internationals, 171 runs clear of Graeme Smith. Ross Taylor is 11th in the list.
• Daniel Vettori's 27 wickets puts him at third in the wicket-takers list, behind Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi.

Match facts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 (day/night)
Start time 19:00 local time (06:00 GMT)