ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 29: WI vs NZ – New Zealand Predicted Playing XI

In every game that they play, a new match-winner is emerging for New Zealand. The result – the team has won four games in the tournament thus far and is yet to be beaten. They have been pushed down the points table slightly by the other teams but the Kiwis have another opportunity to reclaim the top spot as they take on Windies in their next game.

Their win against South Africa just a couple of days ago was nothing well than inspirational. These are the kind of victories that push you to perform better in major tournaments such as these. While playing eleven of New Zealand looks good, there are a few areas of concern that are yet to be sorted. The management might look to test a few players ahead of the big games later in the tournament.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for New Zealand

Openers (Martin Guptill, Colin Munro)

Opening the innings for New Zealand will be Martin Guptill and Colin Munro. Since they have been winning games on a consistent basis at the moment, the management might not want to upset the momentum by roping Henry Nicholls into the side. Colin Munro has blown hot and cold in the tournament so far and only scored 9 runs in the last match.

He should look to bring out a better performance given the unpredictability factor of the opposition. Guptill, on the other hand, seemed to have changed his natural game and tried to bat responsibly. He respected the good balls and tried attacking the bad ones. However, he got out hit-wicket, which is one of the most unfortunate of ways to be dismissed. The opener needs to be slightly more careful.

Middle Order (Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk))

Kane Williamson was fabulous against South Africa and showed great composure under a high-pressure situation. Yet again, he proved his importance to his team with a fabulous hundred. Along with Ross Taylor, he is one of the most important members of this team.

Taylor missed out in the last game and got out to a poor shot. He will want to rectify a few things and come up with better performance in the next game. Tom Latham’s form, though, has been a slight bit of concern. There is someone like Tom Blundell waiting in the ranks eager to make his debut. He scored a fine century in one of the warm-up games. Thus, Latham should look to improve upon his performances and justify his place in the side.

All Rounders (James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner)

It was quite surprising to see James Neesham not bowling in the last game. Williamson seemed content with the five options that he had and completely forgot about the bowler who picked up a five-wicket haul against Afghanistan. Neesham will hope that he’ll get more overs under his belt in the next match. Moreover, he made a valuable contribution with the bat.

Colin de Grandhomme was top-notch with the bat against the Proteas. He completely eased the burden off Williamson with a terrific knock. Given the kind of balance he and Mitchell Santner add to this side, they are nearly irreplaceable and will have huge roles to play.

Bowlers (Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult)

In the last two outings, Matt Henry has failed to pick up any wickets. However, New Zealand is highly likely to persist with him. The management will look to give Tim Southee more recovery time and might not fancy Ish Sodhi in the team as yet. Thus, Henry will continue to share the new ball duties along with Trent Boult.

The left-arm seamer is an extremely important part of New Zealand’s plans and will look to test the Windies batsmen with some swing early on. Lockie Ferguson will round this team up and is doing an excellent job. He picked up a three-wicket haul in the last game as well.