New Zealand, led by captain Mitchell Santner, will take on Harry Brook’s England in the Super 8 T20 World Cup on Friday. This game is very important for the Blackcaps who want to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
England have qualified after winning their first two Super 8 matches – a 51-run win over Sri Lanka and a two-wicket win over Pakistan. New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 61 runs to improve their net rating to +3.050. To advance, the Kiwis just need to avoid big losses. They also showed their ability to handle spin, beating Sri Lanka despite facing six spinners.
Brooke and Will Jacks performed well against Pakistani spinners like Sym Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan. New Zealand’s Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Cole McConchie may be more effective on the slightly slower Premadasa track. Brooke is in fine form, having scored a century against Pakistan, while veteran Jos Buttler is expected to step up after a quiet game. Meanwhile, England’s Jacks (left-spin) and Liam Dawson (left-spin) can challenge the New Zealand batsmen.
At Premadasa, a total of 165-175 would have been enough to win if the spinners were effective.
“You always have confidence in these games, especially when we know how the match is going to be, but I think it would be foolish to underestimate England at any time,” Black Caps all-rounder Rajeen Ravindra said after Wednesday’s win against Sri Lanka.
“They’re obviously a quality team and they showed that in their bowling and how good they bowled. I mean, they have world-class batsmen throughout the team. So it’s not necessarily that,” he added.
But he is well aware that Friday is a new day and a new challenge for Team New Zealand.
“Obviously, we’re going to be confident and move forward from today, but two days from now we’ll realize it’s a different challenge and hopefully we can meet that challenge,” Lachin said.
England vs New Zealand predicted line-up:
England: Harry Brooke (captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Phil Salter (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Rocky Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson.
England vs New Zealand:
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England: Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tonge, Leake Wood
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New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Lachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy, Locke Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi.
