“Black Caps”(New Zealand) will be taking on the “Proteas” in the twenty fifth clash of the mega event ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. This match will be played on 19th June,2019 at the Edgbaston, Birmingham. Black Caps have always been considered as the potential candidate to win the mega event, but they could not have achieved it yet. On the other hand, South Africa have always been considered “Chokers” for the mega event. Despite of having best Batting and Bowling units, both teams have let their fans down every time. ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in round robin format,where each team will play all the other teams before the Semi-finals.
Match will begin on 9:30 AM GMT / 10:30 Local, TV Channels around the world will cover this match, like Star Sports, Ptv Sports, Ten Sports, Sky Sports and etc. CWC 2019 Live Streaming can be seen online on Crictime, and Crichd.
Although, both teams have given many thrilling contests to watch but when last time New Zealand and South Africa faced each other in the mega event, it was in 2015. It was the semifinal of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, which crossed all the records of limelight and glare.
South Africa batted first in that rain affected semifinal. AB Devilliers was leading the South Africa and Brendon McCullum was the captain of New Zealand. South Africa made 281 runs in the first innings of the match. Faf du Plesis stabilized the South African innings with the help of his 82 runs off 102 balls. While, the captain AB Devilliers lead the team from front and made 65 runs off 45 balls. Corey Anderson took three crucial wickets of Faf du Plesis, Rossouw and Miller to break the momentum of South African Batting.
At the end of the first innings, South Africa were considered as favorites, because the target was being considered as deceive for the New Zealand batting line up. Critics were hoping that the South African bowling line up (Morkel, Steyn, Imran Tahir and Philander) would rip through the inexperienced and fragile New Zealand middle order (Elliot, Anderson and out of form Taylor).
Brendon McCullum started the chase with his blistering innings of 59 runs off just 26 balls. Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson proved the critics wrong with their 84 runs off 73 balls and 58 runs off 57 balls respectively. It became little easier for both of these players to play their shots due to the sloppy fielding of South Africa. Grant Elliott was the man of the match for his responsible innings.
South Africa Squad
Faf Duplesis (Captain) , Hashim Amla, Quinton De kock, Van der dussen, David Miller, JP Duminy, Aiden Markram, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Lungi Nagidi, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi
New Zealand Squad
Kane Williamson (Captain), Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Colin De Grandhomme, James Neesham, Tom Blundell, Tom Latham, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi
Match Prediction
It is not easy to give the prediction for this match, as both the teams are the cricketing giants. If we look at the recent home series results, then we can say that, South Africa are in much stable situation than New Zealand.
South Africa played five ODI’s against Pakistan and won by 3-2. They were playing without their dominant players, yet they showed a great character throughout that series. Now, bowlers like Lungi Nagidi and Dale Steyn returning to the squad for the world cup, this would make their bowling unit more compact. Contrary to this, New Zealand lost against India by 4-1 in their own backyard. It was a commandable performance by India but an embarrassment one for New Zealand.
If we compare the middle order of both teams, there also, South Africa have an upper hand over New Zealand. Players like Faf du Plesis, Miller and Duminy are much reliable and destructive than De Grandhomme, Blundell and Neesham. Although, the Upper order and bowling unit of both the teams is equally capable of winning matches for their teams. Fans are hoping to get an exciting contest to watch between these two giants.
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