New Zealand will look to continue their winning streak in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup when they face South Africa at Edgbaston in Birmingham on June 19.
New Zealand have been ‘invincible’ in the tournament so far as they won their first three clashes and their last match against India was called off due to rain. Kiwis are currently at the second position in the team’s standing with seven points in four matches. Martin Guptill was the architect behind New Zealand’s best-ever World Cup campaign in 2015, guiding the team to its maiden tournament final, which they eventually lost to Australia by seven wickets. The right-hander contributed an unbeaten 73 against Sri Lanka in New Zealand’s first World Cup 2019 match. He is in good form and a lot is expected from him. Ross Taylor is the seventh Kiwi cricketer to play in his fourth, and last World Cup. New Zealand depend mostly on Taylor if their top-order fails to give a good start. The right-hander scored 71 against India in a World Cup warm-up match. Taylor played a knock of 82 runs against Bangladesh in a World Cup match.
Proteas have been terrible in the World Cup as they lost their first three matches and were only able to win the last against Afghanistan. The team have to pull up their socks if they hope to make their way to the semi-finals. Their wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock has the ability to adapt according to the situation and provide a speedy start to the innings. In the first World Cup match, he scored a well-compiled 74-ball 68 runs, including six boundaries and two sixes in an attempt to single-handedly save the sinking Proteas. He has scored 176 runs in the ongoing tournament. The 40-year-old Imran Tahir is the oldest player in the World Cup but has exhibited the energy of a twenty-year-old. The leg-spinner is in decent form as he has grabbed eight wickets in the five matches so far. He is well known for his unreadable ‘googly’ and variation in the bowling. Kagiso Rabada possesses the skills of bowling both in-swingers and out-swingers. The 24-year-old is also known for his toe-breaking yorkers in the death overs. In South Africa’s World Cup match against India, he returned with the figures of 2/39 and has five wickets under his name in the tournament.
Possible XI
New Zealand: Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Colin de Grandhomme, Colin Munro, Trent Boult, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Matt Henry, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson
South Africa: Hashim Amla, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Chris Morris, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo
Dream 11: Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult
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