Daijiworld Media Network
Pallekele, Sep 29: Welcome one and all to the match between England and New Zealand. This is a must win game for both teams. New Zealand fought back well but could not get over the line in a super over against Sri Lanka. England, on the other hand, suffered a 15 run loss to the West Indies. A loss for either team will make their passage to the semi-finals even harder.
Pitch Report: The pitch has got a good soaking in the last couple of days. The groundstaff have watered the pitch and left it. The cracks are opening up. The team that wins the toss should bat first and they should be posting a total somewhere around 180.
New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bat
Ross Taylor: 'We will bat first. Bracewell replaces Oram. Oram was not feeling well. The pitch is the same and we hope to put up a good score. We got back well in the game against Sri Lanka.'
Broad: 'I would have batted well. Briggs and Bresnan replace Samit Patel and Dernbach. Briggs' skills will be useful on this wicket. We have the talent in the side and the guys have to go out and perform. Morgan's position is flexible and he played well in the previous game.'
Teams:
England (Playing XI): Craig Kieswetter(w), Alex Hales, Luke Wright, Jonathan Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad(c), Graeme Swann, Danny Briggs, Steven Finn
New Zealand (Playing XI): Rob Nicol, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum(w), Ross Taylor(c), James Franklin, Kane Williamson, Nathan McCullum, Doug Bracewell, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills
Match preview :
England and New Zealand faced quite contrasting losses in their respective first games in the super-8 stages and as is the case with this format, find themselves in a tricky position before they could probably realise. With only 2 games remaining, both teams face an urgent task of resurrecting their campaign which is quickly falling apart.
England:
Form: England passed the spin test quite successfully in the previous game against West Indies but that was still not enough to take them to a victory. They came into the super-8s a demoralised team after being skittled for just 80 against India's spinners, and although they put in a decent fight against
West Indies, they find themselves on 0 points, which is all that counts.
Who clicked: The standout performer with the bat for England was Eoin Morgan. The left hander made an unbeaten 71 off just 36 balls against West Indies and gave them a sniff at an improbable win. His presence in the middle order, and his ability to counter-attack spinners is key to England's campaign in the remaining games. England will also be pleased with Alex Hales - the opener has been in good form and made 68 in the previous match.
England's bowlers ran into Chris Gayle and company in the super-8 opener but the skipper Stuart Broad and pacer Steve Finn came out without much damage.
Who didn't click: England need consistency from the likes of Luke Wright and Bairstow. Wright scored an unbeaten 99 against Afghanistan but has done nothing much after that. Bairstow looked totally out of sorts against West Indies and struggled to get 18 off 29 balls, which ultimately turned out to be a big factor. In the bowling line up, while the pacers are doing a decent job, England need their spinners Swann and Patel to contribute.
New Zealand:
Form: New Zealand have been in decent form in this World Cup but have failed to finish games, which has ultimately resulted in just 1 victory from 3 matches. They are coming off an agonizingly close match (which ended with a super-over loss) against Sri Lanka, and will be keen to learn from their mistakes and sieze the vital moments of the game. Their top order is steady and looks in good form - Nicol, Guptill, McCullum and Ross Taylor form a power-packed batting line up which any team would fear. They have even put up the big scores consistently so far; in the 3 games played, they have made scores of 191, 164 and 174, indicating their consistent form. The problem has been their bowling; apart from the match against Bangladesh, they have allowed the opposition to get the better of them.
Who clicked: New Zealand experimented with their batting order in the group stages and have found a settled, in form combination in the batting line up. They will particularly be pleased with Rob Nicol, who settled the opening position with a half century against Sri Lanka. They would probably expect a bit more than just cameos from skipper Ross Taylor, who has shown glimpses of his explosive self in entertaining cameos.
Who didn't click: New Zealand's biggest problems lie in their bowling department. While Southee has been good in the death, he has leaked far too many runs with the new ball. On the contrary, James Franklin and Jacob Oram have been expensive throughout their spells. Jacob Oram in particular hasn't done anything in this tournament; he hasn't scored runs, he has been expensive with the ball and has not taken wickets either. New Zealand will also hope for wickets from star spinner Vettori - he has been economical but the wickets haven't come his way.
Final word: The loser of this game will need quite a miracle to qualify for the final 4. They have had identical campaigns as far as the results go; they won their opening games but have lost the next two, leaving them in must win positions. While New Zealand seem the better team on form, it only takes one match to turn things around in this format. Defending champions England will know that, and cannot be written off just yet.
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