A must win game for both the teams, the team who wins today will book the place for semis, while the second team’s fortune will be decided by Bangladesh v Pakistan match result.
England has 10 points, and they would be more eager to win the match as if they lose, it will be clear cut that Pakistan would need to beat Bangladesh to win the 4th spot for Semifinal. The home team won the biggest match of the tournament against India, in Birmingham. The team is back in form and would be hoping to repeat the same performance against the Kiwis. Their most significant strength is their batting, and with Jason Roy is back, their batting looks more dangerous.
Kiwis have been on the decline ever since they played against Pakistan. If they win this match, they are through to the semis, but if they lose, they have to hope that even if Pakistan win the game against Bangladesh, they do not win by a significant margin. New Zealand has all the issues in their batting. Baring the captain, Kane Williamson and at some extent Neesham, no other batsman scored runs when required. The players need to give their best; otherwise, even if they win here, they may not be able to win the semis.
Players to watch out
Ben Stokes, with four fifties on his name and picking wickets in the middle overs, he is the most valuable player in this England squad. His fielding is a bonus for the team. He would be hoping to contribute again in the win and steal the semi-final spot.
Trent Boult, Kiwis primary weapon in the bowling department and also the hat-trick man is in great form. It will be a match of Kiwis bowlers against England’s batsmen. Boult needs to pick the English openers early on and also needs to restrict to a small total in the death overs. If he could then Kiwis would have the best chance to win the contest.
England v New Zealand in ODIs:
Overall: Matches 89, England Won 40, New Zealand Won 43, Tied 2 No Result 4
World Cup: Matches 8, England Won 3, New Zealand Won 5
Recent Form (most recent first): England W W L L W, New Zealand L L W W NR
ICC Rankings: England (1), New Zealand (3)
Upcoming Records:
Martin Guptill has scored 967 runs in World Cup and needs 33 more to become the second New Zealand player to reach the 1,000 runs milestone.
Morgan needs 15 more runs to become the 8th England batsman to reach 500 runs milestone in the World Cup tournament.
Squads:
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
