[Champions Trophy Team Preview] New Zealand : Neither Favorites Nor Underdogs

[Number]

SQUAD

 

 

Fixtures
 

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June 2 v Australia, Edgbaston;

June 6 v England, Cardiff;

June 9 v Bangladesh, Cardiff

 

 

Analysis

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17 years ago New Zealand lifted their only ICC silverware in the 2nd edition of this tournament. They have reached Semi finals and finals of ICC tourneys quite frequently but the ultimate 2 match winning streak has always eluded them since then.
Can they finally end the loneliness of the ICC 2000 Knock out trophy in their cabinet ?
Well to start with, group A packed with quality sides will definitely test black caps. The tournament schedule doesn't give any margin for an off day. To repeat heroics of Stephen Fleming's team, Kane Williamson's men will have to be at their best.

Strengths
Batting
The best thing about this side is, they have players for every situation. Martin Guptill is one of the best ODI openers who is capable of providing solid starts to the team. Kane Williamson is one of the best batsmen in the world across formats. His solid defensive technique will give New Zealand great ability to see off dangerous passage of bowling while his ability to accelerate against quality bowling adds firepower to NZ batting.
Ross Taylor adds experience to the batting and he has shown that on his day he is capable of tearing any attack apart. Another good thing about their batting is lower order which will have likes of Neesham, Southee, Santner and Ronchi. With them NZ can recover from slow starts, middle order collapses etc.

Bowling
NZ pace bowling in English conditions can not only be dangerous on their day but can also be a treat to watch. Led by Trent Boult (joint highest wicket taker at WC 2015) and an experienced Southee the bowling attack is capable of exploiting English conditions quite well.
Their pace bowling will have good back ups as well in Mitchell McClenaghan who bowled quite well in 2013 champions trophy and Adam Milne who is touted as possibly the fastest bowler in the world right now.
What sets this team apart from other NZ teams of before is their spin bowling attack which has been really impressive lately. Mitchell Santner's  recent form has been quite good and on a track helpful for spinners they can include Jeetan Patel to partner him.

Challenges
The biggest challenge for New Zealand will be to beat at least one of the two top favorites of the tournaments Australia and England to get past group stage. At the same time they have a very competitive Bangladesh in the group which will be another challenging game for them.
Another big challenge is to overcome their poor lower middle order form. Corey Anderson has been battling back injury and his form in the IPL has been well short of impressive.

Final take

New Zealand are a good one-day side and their last world cup performance and recent performance against India in India shows they are much better side than NZ sides we have seen for long. It suggests they will not come with the underdogs tag in the tourney. I would even go as far as to say this is their best chance to end their ICC trophy drought in the last 17 years. However with the challenges they face and looking around other teams like Australia, England, South Africa and India which at least seem stronger on paper, it is still difficult to term them as favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2017 by Number

[Austin 3:!6]

They are a good team and should do well.

[Zero_Unit]

This is one team I can get behind and support! 

[Ankit_sharma03]

What happ to Ish sodhi??

[Unstable Joe]

6 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

What happ to Ish sodhi??

This is what I want to know as well. I was really enjoying the Sodhi/Santner combo. Go Kiwis! Trash Aussies! Destroy Chokers! Crush Banglas! Then go to knockouts and whoop India's candy a$$!