7 Days to World Cup 2015
New Zealand : Team Analysis
New Zealand have always been looked upon as a quiet, serene kind of a country. Their Rugby team has always been world-beaters. They have produced the world’s best Rowers and Sailors in the last couple of decades. In the past, they produced a few good long-distance runners too. But, if we try to single out one sport which defines the country’s sporting culture over the last 200 years, it has to be cricket. They are playing Test cricket for more than eighty years now. They have produced some special cricketers and, more importantly, have always been a favourite team of people all over the world.
Given the limited resources they generally possess, they have done well in the World Cups. They have, more often than not, been World Cup semi-finalists. They had their best chance to win in 1992, the last time the World Cup happened in their own territory. The sheer breath-taking brilliance of Pakistan ended their dream run in that edition.
Since then, they have never been burdened with the favourites tag in a World Cup. They have always been the dark-horse who galloped well but never finished first.
This time it is different. They have been in ominous form of late. The combination they have is perhaps the best among all participating teams. They have an experienced spinner, a superb battery of pace bowlers, a fantastic batting line-up, and last but not the least, a captain who knows how to win.
Brendon McCullum has been in the form of his life. In the last year, whatever he touched turned gold. His expertise as a skipper often gets concealed under the flamboyance of his bat but he has led his team quite brilliantly in the recent past.
Daniel Vettori has made an astonishing come back and he provides balance to the side, along with the other all-rounders, Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson.
Anderson can be devastating in those small grounds in New Zealand and all opponents would be wary of his potential match-winning capabilities. Elliott has made a comeback out of nowhere and would be keen to prove his worth, if he gets chances.
Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill form the New Zealand top order and these four can literally toy with any bowling line up in the world. Williamson is one of the best in the world right now and Taylor, on his day, can be brutal with a bat in hand.
The fast bowling unit is even more impressive. Trent Boult and Tim Southee have it in them to become one of the all-time great bowling pairs. Mitchell McClenaghan has been one of the most prolific wicket takers in ODI cricket over the last eighteen months. To add to these three, they have the experienced Kyle Mills and Adam Milne, the young tearaway.
On paper, this team looks invincible. Of course, they can have a very bad day and can lose a match but on most days they will start as overwhelming favourites.
England and Sri Lanka will look to compete against them and the Kiwis need to play to their full potential to beat these two teams, especially the islanders. Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Scotland have very little chance of putting up a fight against New Zealand. Their group match against Australia should be a cracker. Perhaps, the best match in the first round.
Irrespective of the result of that match, New Zealand are almost certain to go through to the knock-out stage and should find themselves in the semi-finals.
This is undoubtedly New Zealand’s best chance to win a World Cup and Brendon McCullum and his team knows this better than everyone else. So, don’t be surprised if you see ‘Baz’ lifting the trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29th, 2015.
Squad : Brendon McCullum (captain & wk), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ross Taylor
Batting and bowling potential charts indicate the percentage contribution of each player in the team.
Key Batsmen : Corey Anderson, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor
Key Bowlers : Mitchell McClenaghan, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee
Big Hitters : Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Brendon McCullum
Most Experienced Player : Daniel Vettori
Darkhorse : Trent Boult
Last 10 Matches : Won 8, Lost 2
Team Average Age : 30 years
Oldest Player : Daniel Vettori (36 years)
Youngest Player : Adam Milne (22 years)
New Zealand will be playing two warm-up games against Zimbabwe and South Africa at Lincoln and Christchurch on 9th Feb and 11th Feb respectively.
Fixtures for New Zealand in World Cup 2015 :
| Date & Time |
Match Details |
Coverage |
| |
Sat Feb 14
22:00 GMT (prev day)
11:00 local | 03:30 IST |
1st Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Hagley Oval, Christchurch |
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| |
Tue Feb 17
22:00 GMT (prev day)
11:00 local | 03:30 IST |
6th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Scotland
University Oval, Dunedin |
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| |
Fri Feb 20 (D/N)
01:00 GMT | 14:00 local
06:30 IST |
9th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v England
Westpac Stadium, Wellington |
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| |
Sat Feb 28 (D/N)
01:00 GMT | 14:00 local
06:30 IST |
20th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Australia
Eden Park, Auckland |
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Sun Mar 8
22:00 GMT (prev day)
11:00 local | 03:30 IST |
31st Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Afghanistan
McLean Park, Napier |
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| |
Fri Mar 13 (D/N)
01:00 GMT | 14:00 local
06:30 IST |
37th Match, Pool A - New Zealand v Bangladesh
Seddon Park, Hamilton |
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