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India takes on New Zealand in a clash of Top 4-ranked ODI teams in Match 18 of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. The match is slated for June 13, 2019, at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
India was the last team to see action in the current tournament as the 2017 Champions Trophy finalists didn’t play until June 5th when they handed South Africa their third straight defeat of the tournament. India still has to play Australia in Match 14 on June 9th before heading to Nottingham to face The Black Caps.
New Zealand meanwhile was the first team to go 2-0 in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Kiwis posted a dominant win over Sri Lanka in their tournament opener. Then they survived a thriller against Bangladesh in their second match of this World Cup. New Zealand still has a June 8th date with Afghanistan in Match 13 of the tournament before facing India in this showdown.
India
India is looking for their second world title in the decade after having won in 2011. The current world #2 lost to eventual champions Australia in the semifinals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. With some of the sport’s biggest names and top players, India is one of the cricket betting favorites to win this year’s tournament.
India Squad:
Virat Kohli (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav.
New Zealand
New Zealand has made the semi-finals in four out of the last five editions of the Cricket World Cup. The only time they didn’t make it was in 2003 when they forfeited their match against Kenya due to security concerns. The current world #4 ODI team is hoping to finally go all the way this year.
New Zealand Squad:
Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor
Who Wins?
As of June 5th, India has played just one match in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. The two-time winners were the last team to open their World Cup campaign and right away, they put together a complete performance with both bat and ball after losing the toss.
India bowled excellently and limited South Africa to 227-9 as leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal taking 4-51. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had two wickets apiece as The world’s #2 ranked ODI team dealt South Africa their third straight defeat of the tournament by beating the Proteas by six wickets at 230-4 to 227-9.
Chasing 228, opener Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 122 to lead India to victory. While India’s star and captain Virat Kohli scoring just 18 after being caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma displayed control and patience during his 144-ball stay at the crease, which included thirteen fours and two sixes.
Similarly, New Zealand is in excellent form as they are 2-0 in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. In their last match, The Black Caps defeated Bangladesh by two wickets, 248-8 to 244. New Zealand displayed terrific bowling as they took consistent wickets to hold their opponents to a total of only 244. Paceman Matt Henry was the key player for the Kiwis as he took four wickets for a total of only 47runs. It was also Henry who dismissed the top Bangladesh batsmen like Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun. As for their batting, the top performer for New Zealand was Ross Taylor who scored 82 runs. Taylor was the catalyst in the Black Caps’ chasing down the total set by Bangladesh. However, New Zealand needs the likes of Kane Williamson and Tom Latham to score for them if they are to topple India in this contest.
In their first match, New Zealand put in Sri Lanka to bat and bowled them out for 136 after just 29.2 overs. It was also Henry along with Lockie Ferguson who paced the Black Caps with three wickets each. Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro then chased down the Sri Lankan total in just 16.1 overs. With Guptill hitting 73 and Munro 58, the duo of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor didn’t get a chance to bat in their opening match as New Zealand didn’t lose a single wicket on the road to victory.
The boundaries at Trent Bridge are short, making it a very good venue for batting. And as we said earlier, New Zealand will have to get their other batsmen to help Ross Taylor with the scoring if they want to beat a superb batting team like India. This is going to be high-scoring game because of the venue and with the world’s #1 ODI bowler on India’s side, I don’t think that the Kiwis can outscore them in this match. Prediction: India
