New Zealand, led by skipper Mitchell Santner, will take on England, led by Harry Brook, in a Super 8 T20 World Cup match on Friday. The game is important for the Black Caps, who want to secure a spot in the semi-finals.
England are already through after winning their first two Super 8 matches—a 51-run win over Sri Lanka and a two-wicket victory against Pakistan. New Zealand impressed with a 61-run win over Sri Lanka, boosting their net run-rate to +3.050. To advance, the Kiwis just need to avoid a heavy loss. They have also shown they handle spin well, having beaten Sri Lanka despite facing six spinners.
Brook and Will Jacks have been solid against Pakistani spinners like Saim Ayub, Mohammed Nawaz, and Shadab Khan. New Zealand’s Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, and Cole McConchie could be more effective on a slightly slower Premadasa track. Brook is in form, with a match-winning hundred against Pakistan, while veteran Jos Buttler is expected to step up after a quiet tournament. At the same time, England’s Jacks (off-spin) and Liam Dawson (left-arm spin) can challenge the Kiwi batsmen.
At Premadasa, a total of 165–175 could be enough to win if the spinners are effective.
«You’re always confident going into these fixtures, especially when we know what the surface is going to be like, but I think it’d be silly to underestimate England at any point,» Black Caps all-rounder Rachin Ravindra said after his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
«They’re obviously such a quality unit, and they’ve shown this in bowling, and how well they’ve been bowling. I mean, they’ve got world class batters throughout their order.So it’s nothing necessarily like that,» he added.
But he was well aware that Friday is a new day and it will be a new challenge for the New Zealand team.
«Obviously, we’ll take confidence from today and move on but realize in two days’ time it’s a different challenge and hopefully we can be up for it,» Rachin said.
England vs New Zealand Predicted Playing XIs:
England: Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Phil Salt (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, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson.
England vs New Zealand Squads:
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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 Tongue, Like Wood
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New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Cole McConchie, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi.
