New Zealand have long been labelled dark horses in ICC tournaments. The Kiwis made it all the way to the final of the World Cup Down Under in 2015 where they were blown away by Australia. But this time in England, they enter their opening clash against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Saturday under the radar.
Since the previous World Cup, the Kiwis have flirted with the top two rankings but have also suffered home defeats to South Africa, England and India.
In their two World Cup 2019 warm-up games, New Zealand first crushed India before being blasted by Windies batsman who amassed 421 runs.
However, former Kiwi pacer James Franklin believes the Blackcaps will benefit from the lack of pressure.
“New Zealand are in a sweet spot. No one’s talking about us too much,” Franklin was quoted as saying by AFP.
Positive signs for incumbent keeper Tom Latham who was back fully training today - catching balls at full pace and batting in the nets. Fingers crossed for Saturday 👌 #CWC19 #BACKTHEBLACKCAPS pic.twitter.com/Df41bJ9Kn8
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) May 30, 2019
“We’re forever the underdogs and that suits us quite well…. If we can get some form going over the next few weeks, there’s no reason why New Zealand couldn’t go on and win the World Cup.”
The Kiwis will be relying on an experienced batting line-up that has Ross Taylor along with Williamson and Martin Guptill. Their bowling attack is equally potent, with left-arm quick Trent Boult leading way with Tim Southee and spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner for company.
Their opponents Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have gone off track. There was no clarity over the make-up of the side or even their captain until recently, with Sri Lanka slipping to ninth in ODI rankings. And that gives New Zealand the clear edge in Saturday’s match.
They have appointed Dimuth Karunaratne as captain, who is himself returning to ODI cricket after four years. He has a major task at hand as Sri Lanka look to recover from a horror run in ODIs, having lost eight of their last nine ODIs.
However, former captain Mahela Jayawardene is backing the islanders who have a habit of raising their game at World Cups. For the record, Sri Lanka have won the title once with two runners-up finishes and a semi-final appearance.
“Sri Lanka always find a way to do well in World Cups,” said Jayawardene.
“Yes, there have been some different changes to the set-up. The captain himself hasn’t played one-day cricket for a while but he’s a wonderful player. They are trying to bring a bit more stability into the group. You still have some exciting talent – Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis. There are match-winners in that unit.”
Team news: New Zealand were given some good news on the eve of the match with wicketkeeper batsman Tom Latham keeping against top pace. Latham had suffered a broken finger three weeks back but signs are the top order batsman will be fit to take the field on Saturday.
